Photo: Getty Images
OMAHA, Nebraska -- A survey of Midwest business leaders is showing a mixed-bag of continued growth and rising concern for recession.
Creighton University's nine state Mid-America Business Conditions Index shows a reading of growth-positive 58.6 for June--down from May’s 60. An index reading of 50 is considered growth-neutral.
Creighton economist Ernie Goss says there is some concern for recession among supply managers in this month's survey.
"One in four expect a down-turn, only 19 percent expect healthy growth, while the remaining 58 percent expect flat growth," he says.
Goss also says one-in-five supply managers in the Index survey estimate the probability of a recession above 90 percent.
It's not all doom-and-gloom--he also says there may be some reason for optimism when it comes to inflation and the Midwest economy.
"We will see softening inflationary pressures in the months ahead, but it's still too high. We're well above the Federal Reserve's target of two-percent inflation, and we're not going to reach that until well into 2023," Goss says.
The Mid-America Business Conditions Index is a monthly survey of supply and other business managers in Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and South Dakota.