For a 10th straight month, the overall Rural Mainstreet Index produced by Creighton University’s Heider College of Business sank below growth neutral.
According to the June survey of bank CEOs in rural areas of a 10-state region, the overall reading hit 41.7, down 2.5 points from May.
Economist Ernie Goss says higher interest rates, weak commodity prices and sinking agriculture equipment sales again drove the index below the growth neutral threshold reading of 50.
The Nebraska RMI for June sank more than two points to 39.5, despite the state’s farmland price index rising nearly two points from May’s reading.
