Economic Outlook
Economic Outlook
Heider College of Business
Creighton University
Omaha, NE 68178
Email: economicoutlook
Higher Prices and Empty Shelves to Greet Holiday Shoppers
September survey highlights:
*Creighton’s regional Business Conditions Index climbed into a range indicating positive, but slowing growth for the next three to six months.
*Business confidence plummeted to its lowest level since the first month of COVID-19, March 2020.
*Almost 73.3%, of supply managers expect holiday and Christmas shoppers to face significantly higher prices and empty shelves this season.
*Approximately one in three supply managers said finding and hiring qualified workers will be the greatest challenge for the next 12 months, up from one in five last month.
*Supply bottlenecks slammed regional imports lower.
September Survey Results at a Glance:
* Overall index declined for the fourth straight month, but remained in a range indicating slower, but positive, growth for the next several months.
* Farmland price index soared to a record high.
* More than eight of 10 bankers expect the stepped-up basis portion of President Biden’s $3.5 trillion bill to have a negative impact on the Rural Mainstreet economy.
* Almost two-thirds of Bank CEOs expect the Federal Reserve to begin reducing their bond buying stimulus before the end of 2021.
* More than half of bankers reported that the negatives from Covid-19 expanded in September.
* Growth among the 10 states from top to bottom were: Minnesota (tops), Illinois, Colorado, South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, Iowa, North Dakota, Kansas, and Missouri (bottom).
