National.

New Hampshire had the strongest economic showing in the first quarter of this year, while Hawaii had the weakest, according to a statewide economic indicator analysis by Kemper Securities Inc.

New Hampshire was the first East Coast state to take "top honors" in three and a half years, according to Brad Langs, a tax-exempt fixed-income research analyst at Kemper.

But states like New York and Delaware, among the lowest ranked in the survey, make the East Coast's economy a mixed bag, Langs said.

To explain Hawaii's low ranking, the analysis pointed to a drop in tourism and a falloff in Japanese investment.

Ranked in order of economic strength were: New Hampshire, Idaho, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, West Virginia tied with North Carolina, Utah, Michigan, and Massachusetts.

Ranked in order of economic weakness were: Hawaii, Oklahoma tied with Alabama, Maryland, the District of Columbia, Delaware, Kansas, California tied with Nebraska, and New York.

The survey measures economic performance in terms of employment growth, home sales, building permits, mortgage delinquencies, mortgage foreclosures, and unemployment rates. The state rankings for the second quarter of this year are based on the percentage change from the second quarter of 1993.

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