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On February 18th, Kevin L. Kliesen, a Business Economist and Research Officer with the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, gave a presentation to the Quincy Rotary Club entitled, “A Look at the National and Local Economic Landscape”.

The presentation included a review of U.S. economic conditions and an outlook for the Quincy-area economy, including key trends that will likely affect a rural economy like ours over the next few years.

Here are a few highlights from the presentation:

• The performance of the U.S. economy should be better than last year.
• Consumers and large businesses are becoming a bit more upbeat. Small businesses appear less optimistic.
• Illinois’ economic performance the past few years has been boosted by strong export growth.
• Midwest manufacturing activity has grown faster than the nation the past few years.
• Quincy has seen healthy growth of real per capita income compared with other areas.

Mr. Kliesen concluded with an outlook for the Quincy-area economy:

• Key indicators suggest that that Quincy economy has outperformed many areas of the state.
• Like most cities its size, Quincy both benefits from and is harmed by national and international trends.
• The so-called manufacturing “renaissance” will continue to benefit Quincy and surrounding areas over the near term.
• Longer term, demographics present both opportunities and challenges for Quincy and other rural areas.

You can view the complete presentation here.

Disclaimer: The views expressed are Mr. Kliesen’s own and do not necessarily reflect the positions of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis or the Federal Reserve System.