Nebraska’s Leading Economic Indicator fell again in November, according to the most recent report from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Designed to predict economic activity six months into the future, the Leading Economic Indicator dropped by 0.16%.
“The leading indicator has dropped in four of the last six months, suggesting that there will be no growth in the Nebraska economy in the first half of 2023,” says economist Eric Thompson, director of the Bureau of Business Research.
The six components of Nebraska’s Leading Economic Indicator include business expectations, building permits for single-family homes, airline passenger counts, initial claims for unemployment insurance, the value of the U.S. dollar and manufacturing hours worked.
Two components of the leading indicator worsened significantly during November. Initial claims for unemployment insurance rose. “Increasing claims for unemployment insurance indicate that the Nebraska labor market is softening,” Thompson says.
Manufacturing hours–worked dropped in November. “Manufacturing is a cyclical industry, with declines spilling over to other sectors of the economy,” Thompson says.
The full report and a technical report describing the indicators are available at the Bureau of Business Research website, https://bbr.unl.edu.