North Dakota's economy lags

For the fourth straight month, North Dakota’s economy slowed.

Dr. Ernie Goss is an economics professor at Creighton University, and he conducts a monthly survey of manufacturing supply managers in the Mid-America Region. He says North Dakota’s reading on the business conditions index for the month of June was 45.5, which is up from May’s 40.2 – but still below a reading of 50, indicating a shrinking economy. Goss says a number of things contribute to this; he says North Dakota’s energy and agriculture industries are both slowing down. He says exports are also down – 16 percent last month as compared to the same time last year.

Despite the challenges, Goss says there are some overall positive aspects to the economic outlook.

“Well, the good news is ultimately, they’ve got to have our food, they’ve got to have our energy, and we are the most productive on the face of the earth. We will do well in the long run; this is just a tough spell we’ve got right now. USDA projected this farm income would be down for 2024, we’re seeing that spilling over into the manufacturing – for example, agricultural equipment manufacturing, not doing well, and of course we see that in John Deere and other manufacturers of agricultural equipment.”

Goss also says inflationary pressures have also slowed, and he predicts the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates at their next meeting in September.