Bureau of Business Research
Date of this Version
8-5-2016
Document Type
Article
Citation
Prepared by the UNL College of Business Administration, Bureau of Business Research
Abstract
Consumer confidence improved and business expectations remained positive during the month of July. The Consumer Confidence Index – Nebraska (CCI-N) rose to 97.5 during July, from a value of 92.4 in June. After the increase, consumer confidence is now only slightly below the neutral value of 100. Further, Nebraska businesses maintained a positive outlook for employment in July. In particular, respondents to the July 2016 Survey of Nebraska Business had a slightly negative outlook for sales but a positive outlook for employment over the next six months. Twenty-three percent of businesses expect sales to rise, while 24 percent expect sales to fall. For employment, 14 percent of businesses expect to increase employment while just 8 percent plan to reduce it. When asked about the most important issue facing their business, customer demand was mentioned most frequently, followed by the availability and quality of labor, and competitive conditions. Households reported a variety of financial concerns with 53 percent reporting that their primary financial concerns relate to the cost of living including health care costs, taxes, major expenses (furniture, appliances, automobiles or college tuition) and the general cost of living.
Comments
Copyright 2016 Eric Thompson