A new report by Hartford-based investment manager Conning Inc. says Connecticut’s credit quality is lagging at a time while most states nationwide are seeing strong performance.
Paul Mansour, head of Conning’s municipal credit research group and lead author of Conning’s fourth-quarter 2015 update on U.S. state credit quality, says the majority of states continue to report strong credit quality, improved fund balances and significant reduction of long-term debt. California and New York lead a substantial list of states that are performing well while Connecticut, Illinois, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and energy patch states are lagging.
Conning’s State of the States Municipal Credit ranking emphasizes economic debt, not just stated debt.
Mansour said Connecticut is among a small group of states experiencing relatively low employment and population growth, resulting in slow growth in both state revenues and home prices.
State economic indicators account for 48 percent of the quantitative measures used to determine a state’s rank in the annual State of the States Report. A state’s economic competitiveness accounts for 12 percent of the total score with state specific general obligation credit indicators accounting for 40 percent of the score.
