The Rural Mainstreet Index for April was just released, and while its numbers are good, they are showing signs of what may be coming. April came in at a 62, which is still in growth territory but is down over three percentage points from March. So, there isn?t a lot of concern with where we sit now, but it may be an indicator that this 17-monthlong ride may be drawing closer to an end.
Dr. Ernie Goss is with Creighton University. He says that land and commodity prices still have rural America in a growth pattern, but he is getting concerned about the continued downward momentum he is seeing. He says rural bankers aren?t as optimistic as the Biden Administration that the lifting of the E15 ban for the summer, will have that big of an impact.
Goss says the concern rural bankers have is inflation. You don?t need to look any further than interest rates.
The confidence index of bankers is the lowest it has been since the beginning of the COVID pandemic. There are a lot of global problems that are weighing everything down.
