Bureau of Business Research
Date of this Version
4-29-2020
Document Type
Article
Citation
Copyright 2020 Eric Thompson, UNL Bureau of Business Research
Abstract
The LEI-N fell by 7.96% during March of 2020 as the COVID-19 Pandemic impacted Nebraska’s economy. The leading indicator primarily fell due to a spike in initial claims for unemployment insurance and a sharp drop in the airline passenger enplanements during March. Other components of the leading indicator also were impacted, given a decline in both building permits for single-family homes and manufacturing hours-worked. There also was a sharp increase in the value of the U.S. dollar during March, which creates additional challenges for both agriculture and manufacturing businesses. The decline in the leading indicator suggests that the Nebraska economy will be smaller in the fall of 2020 than it was during January and February of this year.
Comments
Prepared by the UNL College of Business, Bureau of Business Research