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Nebraska Monthly Economic Indicators: December 20, 2013, Eric Thompson, William Walstad, Shannon Mcclure, Mihdi Vahedi

Leading Economic Indicator Reports

The Leading Economic Indicator – Nebraska (LEI-N) declined by 0.59% during November 2013. The decrease in the LEI-N, which predicts economic growth in the state six months in the future, follows three months of expansion. Taking these four months together, the Nebraska economy is expected to expand at a moderate rate in the first half of 2014 but the rate of growth will slow by mid-2014. During November, two components of the indicator expanded and four declined. Among expanding components, there were small increases in both airline passenger counts and manufacturing hours. Among declining components, building permits fell on a …

Nebraska Monthly Economic Indicators: November 15, 2013, Eric Thompson, William Walstad, Shannon Mcclure, Mihdi Vahedi

Leading Economic Indicator Reports

The Leading Economic Indicator – Nebraska (LEI-N) declined by 0.08% during October 2013. The decrease in the LEI-N, which predicts economic growth in the state six months in the future, follows two months of steady expansion. Taking these three months together, the Nebraska economy is expected to expand at a moderate rate in the initial months of 2014. During October, two components of the indicator expanded and four declined. Single-family building permits rose on a seasonally adjusted basis. Exchange rate trends also were positive. The value of the U.S. dollar declined during October, which is positive development for the state’s …

Nebraska Monthly Economic Indicators: October 18, 2013, Eric Thompson, William Walstad, Shannon Mcclure, Mihdi Vahedi

Leading Economic Indicator Reports

The Leading Economic Indicator – Nebraska (LEI-N) rose by 0.95% during September 2013. The increase in the LEI-N, which predicts economic growth in the state six months in the future, signals that the Nebraska economy will grow at a modest pace over the remainder of the year and in early 2014. Most of the increase in the LEI-N was due to a significant drop in initial unemployment claims in Nebraska during September. This drop in Nebraska claims followed a national trend. Among other components of the leading indicator, building permits and airline passenger counts both rose. There also was a …

Nebraska Monthly Economic Indicators: September 20, 2013, Eric Thompson, William Walstad, Shannon Mcclure, Mihdi Vahedi

Leading Economic Indicator Reports

The Leading Economic Indicator – Nebraska (LEI-N) rose by 0.54% during August 2013. The increase in the LEI-N, which predicts economic growth in the state six months in the future, signals that the Nebraska economy will grow over the remainder of the year and in early 2014. Growth, however, will be modest rather than robust. Components of the leading indicator showed mixed signs of growth during August. Two of the six components weakened during the month. Single-family building permits declined during August while initial unemployment claims rose. However, airline passenger counts rose during August on a seasonally-adjusted basis. Manufacturing hours …

Nebraska Monthly Economic Indicators: August 16, 2013, Eric Thompson, William Walstad, Shannon Mcclure, Mihdi Vahedi

Leading Economic Indicator Reports

The Leading Economic Indicator – Nebraska (LEI-N) fell by 1.05% during July 2013. The decline in the LEI-N, which predicts economic growth in the state six months in the future, reverses a strong increase in June, and signals that Nebraska will be unable to sustain rapid economic growth. Taken together, results for the past two months indicate that economic growth will be modest at the end of 2013 and the beginning of 2014. Components of the leading indicator showed few signs of growth during July. In particular, five of the six components of the leading indicator fell during the month. …

Nebraska Monthly Economic Indicators: July 19, 2013, Eric Thompson, William Walstad, Shannon Mcclure, Mihdi Vahedi

Leading Economic Indicator Reports

The Leading Economic Indicator – Nebraska (LEI-N) rose by 0.87% during June 2013. The increase in the LEI-N, which predicts economic growth in the state six months in the future, follows a small increase in May. Taken together, results for the two months suggest moderate economic growth in Nebraska at the end of 2013. Such moderate expectations are particularly appropriate because improvement in the LEI-N during June was not broad-based. Looking at individual components of the LEI-N, only two of the six components rose during June, three declined and one was unchanged. Single-family building permits rose during June. But the …

Nebraska Monthly Economic Indicators: June 21, 2013, Eric Thompson, William Walstad, Shannon Mcclure, Mihdi Vahedi

Leading Economic Indicator Reports

The Leading Economic Indicator – Nebraska (LEI-N) rose by 0.09% during May 2013. The small increase in the LEI-N, which predicts economic growth in the state six months in the future, follows a solid increase in April. Taken together, results for the two months suggest moderate economic growth in Nebraska during the fall of 2013. Looking at individual components of the LEI-N, three of the six components of the LEI-N rose during May. Single-family building permits and airline passengers both rose during the month, indicating strength in the housing sector and the broader economy. Business expectations also rose. In particular, …

Nebraska Monthly Economic Indicators: May 17, 2013, Eric Thompson, William Walstad, Adam George

Leading Economic Indicator Reports

The Leading Economic Indicator – Nebraska (LEI-N) rose by 1.16% during April 2013. The increase in the LEI-N, which predicts economic growth in the state six months in the future, suggests moderate economic growth in Nebraska during the fall of 2013. Looking at individual components of the LEI-N, five of the six components of the LEI-N rose during April, while the sixth component, manufacturing hours, remained unchanged. Single-family building permits rose, rebounding from a sharp decline in March. Airline passengers counts also expanded in April, along with business expectations. In particular, respondents to the Survey of Nebraska Business projected an …

Nebraska Monthly Economic Indicators: April 19, 2013, Eric Thompson, William Walstad, Adam George

Leading Economic Indicator Reports

The Leading Economic Indicator – Nebraska (LEI-N) declined by 0.39% during March 2013. The decrease in the LEI-N, which predicts economic growth in the state six months in the future, suggests weak economic growth in Nebraska during the summer of 2013. Looking at individual components of the LEI-N, five of the six components of the LEI-N declined during March. Single-family building permits dropped, as did airline passengers counts. There was an increase in initial claims for unemployment insurance, and an increase in the value of the U.S. dollar during March. The increase in the value of the dollar would tend …

Nebraska Monthly Economic Indicators: March 15, 2013, Eric Thompson, William Walstad, Adam George

Leading Economic Indicator Reports

The Leading Economic Indicator – Nebraska (LEI-N) rose by 0.16% during Feburary 2013. The slight increase in the LEI-N, which predicts economic growth in the state six months in the future, suggests modest economic growth in Nebraska in the summer of 2013. Looking at individual components of the LEI-N, there was strong growth in business expectations during February. Respondents to the Survey of Nebraska Business reported expectations for a solid increase in business sales and employment over the next six month. However, all other components of the LEI-N declined during February, albeit only slightly. Specifically, single-family building permits dropped modestly …

Nebraska Monthly Economic Indicators: February 15, 2013, Eric Thompson, William Walstad, Adam George

Leading Economic Indicator Reports

The Leading Economic Indicator – Nebraska (LEI-N) rose by 0.36% during January 2013. The increase in the LEI-N, which predicts economic growth in the state six months in the future, suggests moderate economic growth in Nebraska in the summer of 2013. Looking at individual components of the LEI-N, four improved in January. There was strong growth in single-family building permits during January, reflecting significant improvement in the outlook for the housing sector over the last year. There also was modest improvement in airline passengers counts, a drop in initial claims for unemployment insurance, and a drop the value of the …

Nebraska Monthly Economic Indicators: January 18, 2013, Eric Thompson, William Walstad, Adam George

Leading Economic Indicator Reports

The Leading Economic Indicator – Nebraska (LEI-N) rose modestly, by 0.11%, during December 2012. The increase in the LEI-N, which predicts economic growth in the state six months in the future, suggests modest economic growth in Nebraska in mid-2013. Looking at individual components of the LEI-N, two components improved in December. The value of the U.S.dollar fell during December, which may increase export activity over the next six months. There also was a decline in initial unemployment claims during the month that signals an improving labor market. Among other components, there was a modest decline in manufacturing hours, airline passenger …

Technical Report- January 18, 2013, Eric Thompson, William Walstad

Leading Economic Indicator Reports

Introduction

State, Federal, and private entities produce a myriad of data about the national and state economy. Much of this data, however, is released with a substantial lag of several months up to several years. Much of the data also only reports on segments of the economy, rather than providing an overall measure of economic progress. Yet, there is a clear need for comprehensive and current measures of the economy, and current updates about the economic outlook. This information is provided at the national level by the Conference Board, which produces a leading and coincident indicator for the national economy. …

Quarterly Business Indicators 2nd Quarter 2013, Unl Bureau Of Business Research

Leading Economic Indicator Reports

The Quarterly Business Indicators for the 2nd quarter of 2013 show steady growth in the Lincoln, Nebraska economy. Growth rates in the Lincoln area are similar to growth rates nationwide.

The Lincoln MSA unemployment rate remains at year ago levels (Figure 1) but is still half of the U.S. rate (Figure 2). Lincoln is experiencing solid job growth and rapid growth in hours-worked and building permits. Non-farm employment grew by 1.4% in the Lincoln MSA between the 2nd quarter of 2012 and 2013, which is slightly below the 1.6% growth rate nationwide (Figure 4). Building permits were up 21.2% in …

Quarterly Business Indicators 3rd Quarter 2013, Unl Bureau Of Business Research

Leading Economic Indicator Reports

The Quarterly Business Indicators for the 3rd quarter of 2013 show solid progress in the Lincoln, Nebraska economy. Improvements in the economy are broad-based.

The Lincoln MSA unemployment rate remains at year ago levels (Figure 1) but is still half of the U.S. rate (Figure 2). Lincoln is experiencing solid labor market growth. Non-farm employment grew by 1.5% in the Lincoln MSA between the 3rd quarter of 2012 and 2013, which is slightly below the 1.7% growth rate nationwide (Figure 4). However, average hours worked rose by 0.4% in the Lincoln MSA over the last year (Figure 8) versus a …