Each month, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia calculates a monthly coincident index for each state. Based on this, Nebraska topped most surrounding states in economic growth indicator during the last three months of 2019.
The index includes four indicators in its calculation: Nonfarm unemployment, average hours worked in manufacturing, the unemployment rate and inflation-adjusted wage and salary disbursements. Using these calculations, Nebraska outperforms Iowa, Missouri, South Dakota and Wyoming but saw similar growth to Kansas and Colorado.
The state coincidence index is intended to be a measure of economic activity within each state as well as the U.S. as a whole. Using publicly-available data, the index measures indicators such as industrial production (through average hours worked in manufacturing) and personal income (wage and salary disbursements, employment numbers). Personal income is thought to drive much of the retail and services activity in the state, while industrial production is also a significant portion of many state’s Gross State Product or output.