March 7, 2023 – According to the latest national and regional reports on business, economic activity in the manufacturing sector declined for the fourth consecutive month.
Nationally, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) February Report on Business indicated that both new export orders and imports inched up slightly in February while posting a slower contraction.
The report recorded that new export orders increased to 49.9 in February, up from January’s 49.4. Any number of 50.0 or more portrays growth. Imports increased to 49.9 in February, up from 47.8 in January.
In the 9-state Heartland region, Ernie Goss, PhD, director of Creighton University’s Economic Forecasting Group and the Jack A. MacAllister Chair in Regional Economics in the Heider College of Business Reported that, “Trade numbers were down significantly for February with export orders falling to 35.0 from 42.8 in January. Additionally, firms continued to report weak imports due to a weakening regional economy. The February import reading did rise to a weak 42.3 from 34.3 in January.”
The Creighton Economic Forecasting Group has conducted the monthly survey of supply managers in nine states since 1994 to produce leading economic indicators of the Mid-America economy. States included in the survey are Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota.
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