OMAHA, Neb. (AP) -- High inflation dragged down the region's economy in May, according to a new survey of business executives in nine Midwestern and Plains states.

Men are seen working at a construction site in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, southern Germany in 2007. Germany's economic prospects were pounded twice as new surveys raised fears of recession in Europe's biggest economy with signs of a much colder business cl

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Soaring gas prices and weakening job prospects made shoppers gloomier about the economy in May, sending a key barometer of consumer sentiment to its lowest level in almost 16 years.

The Nebraska Business Forecast Council expects the Nebraska economy to outperform the naton’s economy and for both to evade recession and spiking inflation.