Nebraska Business and Consumer Confidence Indexes: September 1, 2017

Nebraska’s consumer and business confidence fell during August. The Consumer Confidence Index – Nebraska (CCI-N) stood at 100.9 in August, below the reading of 102.5 from July. Notably, the CCI-N remained above the neutral value of 100.0 during August. The outlook of Nebraska businesses remained strong. The Business Confidence Index – Nebraska (BCI-N) stood at 104.2 in August, close to the value of 105.1 during July, and well above the neutral value of 100.0. When asked about the most important issue facing their business, customer demand was mentioned by 35 percent of business respondents. Businesses also faced growing competition in both the labor and product markets. The availability and quality of labor was mentioned as the most important issue by 27 percent of August respondents while 15 percent mentioned competition from other businesses. Both percentages are higher than reported in the July survey. Households reported a variety of financial concerns with 55 percent choosing the cost of living including health care costs, taxes, major expenses (furniture, appliances, automobiles) and the general cost of living. During August, nearly one-quarter of households reported that their primary financial issue related to paying off debt or building savings