Midwestern Trump states still suck: Goss

Creighton University's Ernie Goss follows the economies of nine midwestern states including South Dakota's. 

His July Rural Mainstreet Index declined to 50.7 from 51.3 in June and bankers reported an eleventh straight month of negative growth. Farm equipment sales have been depressed for a year and farmland prices are expected to drop again because regional exports are down nearly $200 million from the same period as last year. 

South Dakota's manufacturing exports fell nearly eleven percent for a second month and supply managers are pessimistic about future trends as Trump state weakness continued and the employment index slumped below growth neutral for a seventh straight month. The RMI indicates that South Dakota's wholesale price gauge fell for the fifth straight month while exports of agriculture goods and livestock were down in July by a whopping 49.1% from the same cycle in 2023. Goss said the Mid America Business Conditions Index slipped slightly to 46.7 in July from 46.9 in June.

WalletHub reports that red states are in deeper financial distress than blue states. North Dakota and Iowa saw big jumps in unemployment claims in states where Republican governors are among the country's least popular. Kristi Noem's popularity hovers at nineteenth just behind Nebraska's Earth hating governor. South Dakota also saw an increase in bankruptcy filings while the state is 42nd in credit score ranking and 15th in the number of people in financial distress in large part because of high medical and energy costs.