Nebraska economic indicator drops, indicating summer weakness

            The Leading Economic Indicator for Nebraska dropped in March, falling by 0.39 percent. This decrease in the state indicator, which is designed to predict economic growth six months in the future, suggests weakness in the Nebraska economy during summer 2013.

            The Leading Economic Indicator for Nebraska is calculated by faculty and students in the Department of Economics and Bureau of Business Research within the University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Business Administration.

            It is a composite of six components that 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.

            Five of the indicator's six components declined during March, and followed growth during February as well as at the end of 2012, said UNL economist Eric Thompson, director of the Bureau of Business Research.

            "This uneven pattern of growth in the leading indicator is consistent with weak, but positive economic growth in the Nebraska economy over the next six months," Thompson said. "There were also positive business expectations -- respondents to the Survey of Nebraska Business expected to expand both employment and sales."

            The full Nebraska Monthly Economic Indicators report and a Technical Report describing the latest indicators are available at the UNL College of Business Administration website, http://www.cba.unl.edu.