Our Region’s Manufacturing economy showed some improvement in July…but it’s just barely in positive territory. That’s the latest reading from the Mid America Business Conditions Index from Creighton University. Overall, manufacturing is growing…but jobs growth is slow.
More troubling…Economist Dr. Ernie Goss says inflation remains well above the Fed’s target rate of two percent. “Fed’s favorite measure, the PCE, personal consumption expenditures, that’s up three and a half to four percent year over years,” said Goss. “It’s hard to relax here if you’re an inflation hawk.”
Because of that, Goss expects the Fed to raise interest rates in September to tame inflation. With inflation running higher than desired and the slow-growth economy, Goss says stagflation is becoming more of a risk.