OMAHA, N.E.(KELO)- The regional manufacturing economy is off to a good start for 2025…but slow-going in South Dakota

Creighton University’s Mid-America Business Conditions Index is showing its first positive reading in eight months.

Economist, Dr. Ernie Goss says hiring improved in many of the nine states in the survey.

South Dakota suffered a 12.4-percent decline in manufacturing exports from last year…and that was reflected in the state’s hiring numbers.

Goss says those numbers could turn even more negative, depending on what happens with tariffs that take effect this week.

Some improvement in the regional manufacturing economy…but nothing to write home about.

Creighton University’s Mid-America Business Conditions Index pushed into positive territory last month…barely.

Goss says the reading has been bouncing from negative to positive for months.

South Dakota’s manufacturing exports dropped by more than 250-million dollars from the same period last year.