For a third straight month, the Creighton University Rural Mainstreet Index, or RMI climbed above the growth neutral threshold. The region’s overall reading in February remained above the growth neutral threshold. The February index declined to 50.1 from 53.8 in January. The index ranges between 0 and 100, with a reading of 50.0 representing growth neutral. Creighton University Economist, Ernie Goss, says the economy continues to see slow growth but is basically at a standstill.
The Kansas RMI for February dropped to 53.5 from January’s 54.1. The state’s farmland-price index climbed to 70.1 from January’s 69.7. The new-hiring index for Kansas plummeted to 50.2 from 63.9 in January. Kansas, with 6.3% of the Nation’s ethanol plants, accounted for 3.5% of U. S. ethanol capacity, and ranked sixth in the 10-state region in 2022 ethanol production.
