Nebraska Consumer Confidence Drops in Monthly UNL Economic Report

May 6, 2019, 11:46 a.m. ·

Consumer confidence in Nebraska saw a sharp decline for the month of April. That is according to an economic report from the University of Nebraska - Lincoln, which found flooding and other factors negatively affected Nebraskan consumption.


The Bureau of Better Business Research at UNL conducts a monthly report that measures consumer and business confidence in the state through surveying 500 businesses and households. While business confidence remained strong, consumer confidence fell below the report’s neutral value of 100 to 95 – a 15 point downturn from March.

Eric Thompson, who is a professor of economics at UNL and bureau director of the report, said large drops like this are rare.

“We’ve had large drops like this before but just a few," Thompson said. "This is a pretty significant drop. I suspect flooding was a factor here, and it’s hard to be as optimistic of the outlook when we’ve gone through this major natural disaster.”

Thompson said he expects business confidence to remain consistent through May, while consumer confidence in Nebraska could fluctuate.