State Economic Watch

Pirelli North America will invest $1.2 billion to expand its Rome, Georgia production facility according to a press release from the Georgia Governor’s office. The new facilities are expected to be fully operational by 2033 and are expected to generate 1,000 new jobs. The existing Pirelli Rome facility currently employs 234 people.

On Friday, September 25, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear signed an executive order creating the Governor’s Office of Music to support the state’s music industry. The office will be charged with “highlighting Kentucky’s storied music legacy and to supporting Kentucky artists, venues, festivals and music businesses”. According to the press release , the arts industry in Kentucky generates $6.9 billion in economic activity and accounts for 51,000 jobs. 

A new report from the Maine Office of New Americans concludes that the state could see an economic impact from aggressive federal immigration policies of between $395 million and $3.3 billion and a loss of between 1,800 and 15,100 jobs. The report, authored by the Wallace Economic Advisors, LLC, utilizes low-mid-high enforcement scenarios to model the economic impact to the state of the federal government’s immigration activity.  According to the results, the greatest hit to employment would be experienced in the health services sector, but the biggest economic impact would come from the manufacturing sector.

The services sector in the Tenth Federal Reserve District continues to be weak according to results of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City’s September Services Survey . The top line composite index improved slightly from the -3 reported in August to a neutral 0 in September, but still far below the 14 registered in July 2026. Similarly, the general revenue/sales index improved to 6 from 0 in the prior month, again still meaningfully below July’s reading of 19. The employment indexes, employee count, part-time employment and hours worked, were all lower m/m and in negative territory in the September survey.  After plunging in August, the six-month expectations indexes recovered somewhat in September, with the composite index increasing to 12 from 5 in August, and the general revenue/sales index increasing to 17 from 12. However, both of these indexes are well below their respective June peaks of 26 and 41. Finally, the employment six-month expectations indexes improved slightly,...

  All of the current indexes in the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City’s Manufacturing Survey were higher m/m in September. The survey’s top line composite index was reported at 14 for September compared to 10 in August. It was the second consecutive monthly increase in this index. The production, shipments, new orders and backlog indexes all increased m/m. The employment indexes were mixed, with employee count remaining at a neutral 0 and the average workweek increasing from 1 to 13. The six-month forward indexes however, were flat to slightly lower, with the composite expectations index dipping to 19 from 20 in August and most of the other forward indexes down slightly. Price pressure was a consistent theme in the comment section with one respondent predicting that “prices to customers are going to go up and go up significantly if something doesn't change quickly. We are looking at a huge new round of inflation. Perhaps even scarcity of supply”.  

Employment growth in Massachusetts has lagged that of the US since COVID 2020 pandemic. A new study by economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston calculates that, when indexed to January 2020, total employment in Massachusetts in July 2026 was slightly below the January 2020 level (0.994), but the comparable figure for the US was slightly higher (1.045). They conclude that anemic post-pandemic growth in three sectors, professional and business services, healthcare and social assistance, and construction were primarily to blame. However, they note that Massachusetts enjoyed above average growth from these three sectors from January 2009 to January 2020, and that this pace of growth proved to be unsustainable post-COVID.