Another Slight Economic Bump Shown in UI Flash Index

Tax revenue keeps going up in Illinois, and that means a continued rise in an indicator of how well the state's economy is doing.

The monthly University of Illinois Flash Index rose.2 in May to 96.8. For the past two years it's been creeping ever closer to 100, the break-even point between economic growth and contraction. The Flash Index uses tax revenue from sales and income to measure the overall economy.

U of I economist Fred Giertz authored the index. He says a small portion of that increasing tax revenue may have come from rising prices on food and fuel. "Some tax revenues are stimulated by inflation, actually -- for example, the sales tax on gasoline," Giertz pointed out. "So it's not directly about that; certainly over the long run it would be related, but not over the short run. The more direct link would be something that came out (Tuesday) about consumer confidence."

Last month's confidence index dropped sharply - Giertz says that's a more significant result of higher food and gas prices.