The Creighton University Mid-America Business Conditions Index, a survey of manufacturer supply managers considered to be a "business barometer," plummeted to its lowest January reading since 2008. The Index, which ranges between 0 and 100 with 50.0 representing growth neutral, sank to 47.0, down slightly from 47.1 in December.
Director of Creighton University's Economic Forecasting Group Ernie Goss says the index for a nine-state region stretching from Minnesota to Arkansas, fell below growth neutral for a third straight month.
"Creighton's monthly survey of manufacturing supply managers is flashing recession warnings for 2023. This marked the lowest January reading for the overall, or business conditions index, since 2008, the beginning of the Great Recession," said Goss.
Some better news for Kansas, the Kansas Business Conditions Index for January climbed to 56.7, a regional high, from 50.1 in December. Good business indicators for 2023 are tempered by U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data, which report the state's average inflation adjusted hourly wage rate fell by 3.8% in 2022.
