Mood Brightens on Rural Mainstreet
The overall Rural Mainstreet Index, while remaining below growth neutral, rose in February to its highest level since September 2015. The index rose from 45.8 after registering 42.8 in January.
More than one-third of bank CEOs reported their local economy remains in an economic downturn, and only 14.9 percent of bankers indicated their local economy was expanding, but the sentiment has improved.
The February farm equipment-sales index increased to 20.5 from 16.7 in January. An optimistic 4.3 percent of bankers expect farm equipment sales to increase in the next 12 months.
As the Creighton University team characterizes it, the negatives are getting less negative.
“Weak farm commodity prices continue to squeeze Rural Mainstreet economies,” said Ernie Goss, the Jack A. MacAllister chair in regional economics for Creighton University’s business school. “Over the past 12 months, livestock commodity prices have tumbled by 9.4 percent and grain commodity prices have slumped by 6.3 percent, both an improvement over last month.”