The primary season is coming to a close. The Republicans are essentially all but done, and while there remains a narrow chance of an upset on the Democratic side of the race, the majority of experts believe the odds of such a late-season surprise is unlikely, to say the least.
And while the analysts are gearing up to officially change focus to the general election run, PYMNTS’ Store Front Business Index is checking in with today’s two primary host states.
Today, there are tales of two very different economies going to the polls when it comes to the businesses that make up Main Street. Oregon is doing better, on average, than both its region and the nation as a whole, whereas Kentucky is experiencing much rougher seas, trailing its region and state in every metric.
So, what’s up on Main Street in these two almost opposite environments?
Oregon
The state fared in a mixed manner against most metrics, speaking both regionally and nationally. The overall tally for the period through 2015’s second quarter, at 3.9 percent growth, was better than the 3 percent growth seen through the Pacific Northwest and better than the 3.1 percent across the national overall.
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The most significant outperformance came through establishments growth, which, at 4.8 percent for the state, was leagues above the slight decline in the region overall and the 2 percent growth for the nation as a whole.
That may bode well for the other tracked data, where there was a lagging effect, chiefly in real wages, which was 4.7 percent for the state versus 7.5 percent regionally.
Kentucky
The state seems to be one rife for voter discontent. Kentucky underperformed on every metric, versus regional and national peers. The overall reading for the state stood at a rather anemic 2.2 percent, while the national tally was 3.1 percent. The real wages number was also glaringly lower, with 3.3 percent for the state versus 4.9 percent nationally, indicating some drag in catching up to purchasing power.
