Signs of recovery? some state indicators offer hope of economic turnaround.

• Position: Indiana Indicators

To borrow an expression from the U.S. Secretary of Defense, we have no "hard evidence" that the economic recession in the state of Indiana is ending. But we do have a few promising pieces of intelligence.

Over the course of this fiscal year, the state government's total take from sales, individual income and corporate income taxes is $353.1 million, or 4.7 percent, less than what was forecast just six months ago. But the revenue forecast of 2.5 percent growth in sales tax receipts for this fiscal year is turning out to be almost exactly on target. That means that Indiana consumers have done their part to keep the economy rolling.

There is also some sign of recovery in the state's industrial sector, particularly in cities like Kokomo. There, the average workweek of manufacturing workers stands at 48.7 hours, 15 percent higher than last year at this same time. Increases in other manufacturing cities, however, are much more tepid. The Elkhart and Fort Wayne metropolitan areas (MSAs) have both seen a rise of only 2.4 percent in workweeks over the last 12 months, with the Gary-Hammond and Indianapolis MSAs still realizing small declines in average factory hours worked.

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Latest Previous Year Percent Period Period Ago Change Employment (000) U.S. May. 02 130,748.0...