NORTH DAKOTA ( KXNET ) — The economy in the rural United States continues to struggle, but North Dakota’s economy is showing small signs of improvement.

The Rural Mainstreet Index covers 10 states in the Midwest, with a focus on regions whose economies depend on agriculture and energy.

It has now been 12 straight months that the index has dropped below 50%, which is considered growth neutral. It is at 40.9%, its lowest point since November 2023.

“Weak agriculture commodity prices, sinking agriculture equipment sales and declining farm exports pushed the overall reading below growth neutral for the 12 ^th straight month,” said Ernie Goss, Jack A. MacAllister Chair in Regional Economics at Creighton University’s Heider College of Business .

For the index, bankers were asked to name the biggest threats to regional banking over the next year. 60.9% of them said falling farm commodities pose the greatest risk.

North Dakota is one of two states in the index whose Rural Mainstreet Economy actually improved over the last month, the other being Missouri. Exports of agriculture and livestock in N.D. are up by 7.3% since August 2023, which equates to about $33 million. However, the state’s farmland price index is down about two percentage points from July.

For our neighbors to the south, the economy dipped just a bit since July. Both the farmland price and new hiring indexes in South Dakota dropped below growth neutral.

Survey results for the next month will be released on September 19.

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