TheBusiness Conditions Index, which ranges between 0 and 100, climbed to 60.4 from 58.2 in March for the Mid America region.

Ernie Goss, director of Creighton University’s Economic Forecasting Group said it’s the strongest showing in some time…

 

After declining below growth neutral for December, the employment gauge has remained above the threshold for the fourth straight month. The employment index dipped slightly to a still solid 54.2 from 54.4 in March.

Goss says he expects those trends to continue…

 

Looking six months ahead, economic optimism, as captured by the April business confidence index, expanded to a strong 64.2 from March’s 59.0.

Goss says several outside factors have changed…

 

The Creighton Economic Forecasting Group has conducted the monthly survey of supply managers in nine states since 1994 to produce leading economic indicators of the Mid-America economy. States included in the survey are Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota.