(Omaha) — Despite some improvement in the numbers, a leading KMAland indicator continues to show a sluggish rural economy.
April’s Rural Mainstreet Index improved from 40.9 in March to 47.9 this month. But, the survey of bank CEOs in 10-state Midwestern region–including Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri–fell below the growth neutral mark of 50.0 for the third straight month. Speaking on KMA’s “Morning Line” program Monday morning, Creighton University Economics Professor Dr. Ernie Goss cited improved commodity prices for boosting this month’s RMI.
“Agricultural prices rose somewhat,” said Goss. “That would be corn, soybean, wheat in this part of the country–that’s look somewhat better. Still not as good as we’d like to see. On the flipside, costs are going up even more than the prices. Cost, of course, for fertilizer and other inputs rising significantly over the last several months. That’s not good news. But overall, the negatives are getting a bit better each month as we moved forward.”…