Despite modest growth in September, Nebraska’s leading economic indicator has seemingly flatlined in the last three months, which suggests a stagnant economy by the end of the year into 2023. Economist Eric Thompson, Director of the Bureau of Business Research, spoke with KLIN News.
“As is well known, the national economy is slowing,” said Thompson. “In the face of rising interest rates with high inflation, the federal reserve bank has had to increae interest rates, and that naturally has the effect of slowing the economy. We’re starting to see evidence of that here in Nebraska.”
“The leading indicator is not rising steadily anymore,” concluded Thompson. Thompson noted, however, that it isn’t going down.
Nebraska’s leading economic indicator is made up of six parts: the value of the American dollar, business expectations, airline passenger numbers, building permits for single-family homes, initial claims for unemployment insurance, and number of manufacturing hours worked.
The full report and a technical report describing the indicators are available at the Bureau of Business Research website.