The November Creighton University Mid-America Business Conditions Index, a leading economic indicator for the nine-state region stretching from Minnesota to Arkansas, sank below growth neutral to its lowest level in three years.
Overall index: This is the third time in the last four months that the overall reading has fallen below a growth neutral 50.0. The Business Conditions Index, which ranges between 0 and 100, slumped to 48.6 from October’s 52.6.
“Slow global growth and trade skirmishes and wars are negatively affecting growth among manufacturers in the region. For 2019, manufacturing in Mid-America lost jobs at a pace of minus 0.1% compared to a positive job growth of 0.04% for U.S. manufacturing,” 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.