November 2023 Survey Results at a Glance:
- For a third straight month, the overall Rural Mainstreet Index sank below growth neutral to a three-year low.
- Banker economic confidence dropped to its lowest level since initiation of the survey in 2006.
- For the first time since January of this year, the checking deposit index advanced above growth neutral.
- For the fifth time in the past six months, farm equipment sales declined.
- Approximately 84.5% of bankers urged the Federal Reserve to make no changes to interest rates at its next meetings on December 12-13.
- Approximately 88.5% of bank CEOs reported that available jobs outnumbered available workers in their local economy.
- According to the International Trade Administration, the export of agriculture products from the region declined from $9.8 billion for the first nine months of 2022 to $8.6 billion for the same period in 2023 for a 12.7% slump.
OMAHA, Neb. (Nov. 16, 2023) — For a third straight month, the overall Rural Mainstreet Index (RMI) sank below growth neutral, according to the November survey of bank CEOs in rural areas of a 10-state region dependent on agriculture and/or energy.
Overall: The region’s overall reading for November fell to 40.4 from 44.4 in October and 49.5 in September. The index ranges between 0 and 100, with a reading of 50.0 representing growth neutral.
“This is the weakest recorded reading in more than three years, or since June 2020, shortly after the beginning of the pandemic, and points to weaker farm and non-farm economies,” said Ernie Goss, PhD, Jack A. MacAllister Chair in Regional Economics at Creighton University’s Heider College of Business.
Overall: The region’s overall reading for November fell to 40.4 from 44.4 in October and 49.5 in September. The index ranges between 0 and 100, with a reading of 50.0 representing growth neutral.
“This is the weakest recorded reading in more than three years, or since June 2020, shortly after the beginning of the pandemic, and points to weaker farm and non-farm economies,” said Ernie Goss, PhD, Jack A. MacAllister Chair in Regional Economics at Creighton University’s Heider College of Business.
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