Nebraska’s Leading Economic Indicator Rebounds in August

The Leading Economic Indicator – Nebraska (LEI-N) rose by 1.37% in August 2014, its fifth increase in six months. The increase reverses a decline during July.

“Results suggest that the Nebraska economy will continue to grow at a solid rate in early 2015,” said University of Nebraska-Lincoln economist Eric Thompson, director of the Bureau of Business Research. The Leading Economic Indicator – Nebraska is produced by faculty and students in the Department of Economics and Bureau of Business Research within the UNL College of Business Administration.

The Leading Economic Indicator – Nebraska is a composite of six components which predict future economic growth: single-family building permits, airline passenger counts, initial unemployment claims, manufacturing hours, the value of the U.S. dollar, and business expectations gathered from the Survey of Nebraska Business.

According to Thompson, “there was a solid increase in single-family home building permits and a sharp drop in initial unemployment claims during August.” Business expectations also remained positive during the month. On a cautionary note, there was an increase in the value of the U.S. dollar during August, which will create a more challenging environment for the Nebraska exporters.