Wyoming is expected to continue feeling an economic downdraft in the months ahead.

That's the conclusion of a business survey conducted by Creighton University in Omaha, Neb.

For the eleventh consecutive month, the state's business conditions index fell below growth neutral in October with a 47.5 reading.

The Mountain States index is based on a survey of supply managers in the three-state region consisting of Colorado, Utah and Wyoming. An index number greater than 50 suggests the economy will expand in the next three to six months.

Individual components of the Wyoming index were new orders at 50.0, production or sales at 40.8, delivery lead time at 67.7, inventories at 39.9 and employment at 39.4.

"In the months ahead, the weak dollar, making U.S. goods more competitive abroad, will support the state's large and important mining sector. Even so, I expect the state's unemployment rate to continue to increase before peaking in early 2010 above 7.0 percent," Goss Institute for Economic Research Director Ernie Goss said in a media release.

In the Mountain States region overall, Goss said growth is likely to be anemic with little improvement in the job market.

"While our survey indicates the pace of job losses will diminish, I expect the region to continue to lose jobs," he said.

The regional inflation index continued to advance, up from 50.1 in September to 56.3 in October.

"Supply managers reported that prices for raw materials and supplies declined by an average of 0.4 percent over the past year," Goss said. "However, recent growth in the prices-paid index due to a weak dollar and record low Federal Reserve interest rates will result in elevated inflationary pressures at the consumer level as early as the middle of 2010."

The Creighton Economic Forecasting Group has conducted its monthly survey of supply managers since 1994.

Contact Business Editor Tom Mast at 307-266-0574 or tom.mast@trib.com. Read his "Two Bits Worth" blog at tribtown.trib.com/TomMast/blog