OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The rural economy is sputtering in 10 Midwest and Great Plains states as farmers try to cope with this summer's severe drought, according to the newest monthly survey of bankers released Thursday.

The Rural Mainstreet Index slipped to 47.1 this month, its lowest level since April 2009 and the second straight month of negative growth. Any score below 50 on the 1-to-100 index suggests that the economy will contract in months ahead.

The index fell from 47.9 in July and 56.7 in June.

Complete your profile to continue reading and get FREE access to BenefitsPRO, part of your ALM digital membership.

Your access to unlimited BenefitsPRO content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:

  • Breaking benefits news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical converage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.