Business confidence slides among 9-state midwestern supply managers

The US January 2022 trade deficit rocketed to a second straight record monthly high of $107.6 billion. For 2021, the US trade deficit with China climbed to a record $355.3 billion.

Implication: US companies need to manufacture more product and components here - reshoring.

The ICE US Dollar Index (USDX), which tracks the currency against a basket of major global currencies, exploded by 2.1% last week alone. A higher value of the US dollar makes American agricultural and manufactured goods less competitively priced abroad.

Implication: The value of the US dollar will continue to rise as the Russia-Ukraine war continues putting a damper on US exports.

In terms of 2022 challenges for their firm, more than four of 10 Heartland supply managers, or 43.5%, ranked supply disruptions as tops, more than one-third, or 34.8%, indicated finding and hiring qualified workers as tops, and approximately 17.4% of supply managers named rising input prices as the top challenge.

Implication: These challenges are unlikely to improve through 2023.

Based on input from the March 2022 Economic Trends report, written by:

Professor Ernie Goss, PH.D., Creighton University

Jack MacAllister Chair in Regional Economics

Implications by IBNewsmag