SBJ EDITOR

As the new year started, and the credit crisis and financial markets worsened, Southern Illinois consumers continued spending at a similar clip compared to the same period a year ago.

Tax statistics made available recently by the Illinois Department of Revenue show that within the region's 20 largest cities, retail spending totaled about $1.57 billion during 2008's first six months.

That is nearly identical to the $1.57 billion spent during the first six months of 2007 - the difference is actually $225,109, a thin .01 percent decrease.

Statewide, consumers have spent about 2.24 percent less, down to about $84.9 billion from last year's $86.8 billion.

When the revenue department releases sales tax data, it still lags by some four months so the most recent numbers account for purchases made through the end of June.

The fact that purchases in the region are nearly the same this year compared to the same period last year supports the contention that Southern Illinois, as a whole, is somewhat insulated from significant economic swings, several local officials and business leaders say.

"We in small town America don't feel the effects that metro markets tend to experience," said Murphysboro Mayor Ron Williams.

"What's happening on Main Street in Chicago is not the same thing happening that's happening on Main Street in Murphysboro, or Carbondale, or Marion," he continued.

Williams has watched first-hand as more spending has occurred in his city this year than last, in large part because of the city's new Super Wal-Mart, which opened in March.

Total sales in Murphysboro are up nearly 17 percent, to nearly $54.6 million. Purchases for all of 2007 totaled $94.9 million. With the holiday shopping season approaching, the city likely will eclipse 2007 sales by a double-digit margin.

"What I'm seeing, and what people are telling me, is that more people are eating in our restaurants and frequenting other local businesses as well as the new Wal-Mart. Certainly the new Wal-Mart has had a big part in our increase," the mayor said.

Retailers, though, are remaining cautiously optimistic about the upcoming holiday shopping season. On average, the three-month season accounts for nearly 40 percent for most businesses.

The National Retailers Federation recently released its predication that holiday sales will be up by about 2.2 percent; last year sales were up nationally by about 3.4 percent.

In the top 20 Southern Illinois retail centers, holiday sales last year were up by about 2.1 percent.

"Hopefully our national leaders will work through this financial crisis and we'll see some measure of settling with everything," Williams said. "But it is rather amazing how we tend to stay insulated as much as we do."

In addition to stable consumer spending, there are other indicators that the local economy is quietly humming along.

New car sales within the 18-county region for the months of May and June were up by more than 30 percent.

And the Flash Index, a product of the University of Illinois' Institute of Government and Public Affairs, slightly increased during the month of August to 102.3 before dropping to 101.X for the month of September.

Any reading above 100 indicates that the economy is expanding. It looks at corporate earnings, consumer spending and personal income.