OMAHA — For the fourth time in the past five months, the Creighton University Mid-America Business Conditions Index, a leading economic indicator for the nine-state region stretching from Minnesota to Arkansas, moved below growth neutral.
Overall Index: The Business Conditions Index, which uses the identical methodology as the national Institute for Supply Management (ISM) and ranges between 0 and 100 with 50.0 representing growth neutral, increased to a weak 49.6 from 47.6 in December.
“Creighton’s latest survey indicates that the regional manufacturing economy continues to move sideways to lower with the wholesale inflation gauge moderating,” said Ernie Goss, PhD, Director of Creighton University’s Economic Forecasting Group and the Jack A. MacAllister Chair in Regional Economics in the Heider College of Business…