Bureau of Business Research

 

Date of this Version

7-7-2017

Document Type

Article

Citation

Prepared by the UNL College of Business, Bureau of Business Research

Comments

Copyright 2017 Eric Thompson, Bureau of Business Research

Abstract

Consumer confidence rose sharply in Nebraska during June 2017 while business confidence remained very strong. The Consumer Confidence Index – Nebraska (CCI-N) stood at 100.4 in May but rose to 104.7 during June, which is well above the neutral value of 100.0. The outlook of Nebraska businesses remained very strong. The Business Confidence Index – Nebraska (BCI-N) fell to 109.2 in June, well above the neutral value and just below its May value of 110.2. Business confidence has been very strong in Nebraska throughout the first half of 2017. When asked about the most important issue facing their business, customer demand was mentioned by 40 percent of business respondents. Concerns about customer demand were most common in the agriculture and health care industries. The availability and quality of labor was mentioned as the most important issue by 18 percent of respondents while 11 percent mentioned competition from other businesses. Households reported a variety of financial concerns with 29 percent reporting that their primary financial issues relate to paying off debt or savings and 49 percent choosing the cost of living including health care costs, taxes, major expenses (furniture, appliances, automobiles or college tuition) and the general cost of living. There was an increase in the share of households reporting issues with health care costs but otherwise household responses are similar to those from previous months.

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