Nebraska’s leading economic indicator declined 0.69% during August, according to the most recent report from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The indicator is designed to predict economic activity six months into the future.
“The August decline in the indicator, when coupled with increases in June and July, suggests that the Nebraska economy will grow at a modest pace through the end of the year and into early 2025,” said economist Eric Thompson, director of the Bureau of Business Research, department chair and K.H. Nelson College Professor of Economics.
The six components of indicator are business expectations, building permits for single-family homes, airline passenger counts, initial claims for unemployment insurance, the value of the U.S. dollar and manufacturing hours worked.
Two components registered a notable decline.
“Nebraska manufacturing hours worked fell, suggesting weakness in the national manufacturing sector has spread to Nebraska,” Thompson said.
Building permits for single-family homes also fell in August, after a sharp increase in July. According to Thompson, “the August decline shows that the sharp increase in July permits was not the start of a long-term trend and that homebuilding activity remains subdued in Nebraska.”
The full report and a technical report describing the indicators are available at the Bureau of Business Research website, https://bbr.unl.edu.
