Nebraska’s economy will continue to sputter through early 2014, according to the latest Leading Economic Indicator for Nebraska.
Designed to predict economic growth within Nebraska six months into the future, the Indicator increased by 0.54 percent in August, suggesting “modest growth, at best” for the rest of the year, said University of Nebraska-Lincoln economist Eric Thompson, director of the Bureau of Business Research.
Some components used to calculate the Indicator showed improvement during August. Airline passenger counts were up; manufacturing hours increased slightly; and the Survey of Nebraska Business showed modestly positive business expectations.
Other components worsened, however. Building permits for single-family homes declined on a seasonally adjusted basis, while first-time unemployment claims were up.
“We continue to wait for signs of sustainable, robust economic growth in the state,” Thompson said.
Produced by UNL’s Department of Economics and the Bureau for Business Research, the Leading Economic Indicator is a composite of six components that predict future economic growth. They are single-family building permits, airline passenger counts, initial unemployment claims, manufacturing hours, the value of the U.S. dollar and business expectations gathered from the Survey of Nebraska Business.
The full Nebraska Monthly Economic Indicators report and a Technical Report describing the indicators are available at the UNL College of Business Administration website, http://www.cba.unl.edu
