“The overall index for the Rural Mainstreet Economy indicates that the areas of the nation highly dependent on agriculture and energy are experiencing much slower growth than for the same period in 2013 (graph below).  However, recent boosts to agriculture commodity prices should boost the economy in the months ahead,” says Ernie Goss, the Jack A. MacAllister Chair in Regional Economics at Creighton Univ.'s Heider College of Business.