(Omaha) — Another leading indicator points to another month of growth in the KMAland manufacturing economy, but uncertainty and inflationary pressures remain.
Creighton University’s Mid-America Business Conditions Index dropped slightly to 55.7 for July, down from 56.0 in June. It’s the sixth straight month that the reading has been above growth-neutral, represented by 50.0, in the survey of supply managers and manufacturers in a nine-state region–including Iowa, Nebraska, and Missouri. Creighton University Economics Professor Dr. Ernie Goss says that while the latest reading points to solid economic growth in regional manufacturing, there is some cause for concern.
“It’s much like what we’ve seen in the past–GDP is growing, but probably growing for what some would say the wrong reasons as we’re seeing investment for data centers growing pretty briskly, but that growth is going to come down and I’d expect GDP growth to come down,” said Goss. “Job growth, not as much. We’re not seeing growth there and we’re not seeing much in labor supply. Our population is waning–I’m a baby boomer and as we move toward retirement, the labor supply is contracting.”…