Survey suggests pandemic draining vigor from Midwest economy

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A survey of supply managers in a nine-state region of the Midwest and Plains is showing more signs of the coronavirus pandemic’s disruptive economic impact. 

A report released today says the Mid-American Business Conditions index sank in March to 46.7 — its lowest reading since September 2016. The survey’s confidence index plunged to a record low of 14.5. 

Creighton University economist Ernie Goss oversees the survey and says the emergence of coronavirus swamped the positive confidence impact of the recent passage of the US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement and phase of the trade agreement with China. 

Goss says COVID-19 had a smaller impact on the manufacturing sector than other areas of the economy more directly tied to the consumer. He expects negative impacts for manufacturers to worsen in the next month, since almost two-thirds of supply managers reported that the coronavirus produced shipping problems to and from vendors. 

A little more than half of the survey respondents said the pandemic had pushed their companies to switch to, cease, or reduce, international buying. More than one in three of the supply managers indicated that the virus had caused their companies to switch to domestic suppliers for some products formerly purchased abroad.

The survey results are compiled into a collection of indexes ranging from zero to 100. Survey organizers say any score above 50 suggests growth. A score below that suggests decline. 

The survey covers Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota.