Nebraska’s leading economic indicator rebounded in October, rising by 1.06 percent.
The rise in the index reversed a decline during September.
“Taken together, results for the last two months suggest that the Nebraska economy will expand at a modest pace during the first months of 2016,” said economist Eric Thompson, director of the Bureau of Business Research at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Thompson said most components of the leading economic indicator improved during October, including manufacturing hours, airline travel, business expectations and initial claims for unemployment insurance.
In addition, the value of the U.S. dollar dropped during October. If the decline is sustained in future months, it should benefit Nebraska’s export businesses in agriculture and manufacturing.
There was a modest decline in the number of building permits for single-family homes during October.
The leading economic indicator report is produced monthly by faculty and students in the Economics Department and the Bureau of Business Research in UNL’s College of Business Administration.
The full report and a technical report describing the indicators are available at the Bureau of Business Research website, http://www.bbr.unl.edu.
