Omaha, Neb ? The region’s business managers are concerned about their profits because of rising oil prices and interest rates, according to a monthly survey released Monday.

Confidence among the region’s business leaders and supply managers dropped to 59.4 in April, down from 64.5 the previous month, making it the lowest level since 2002, said Creighton University economics professor Ernie Goss, who conducts the Mid-America Business Conditions Survey in a nine-state region.

The confidence index predicts growth in the next six to nine months.

Goss surveys business leaders and manufacturers in Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota.

The overall index hit its lowest point since December 2003, netting a rating of 58 in April, down from 61.3 in March.

This was the second straight month for a decline, although the economic indicator was above 50, meaning growth will continue but it will be at a slower rate in the next three to six months, Goss said.

Moderating prices for steel and oil brought the prices-paid index down to its lowest level since December 2003, at 75.4. But even at that level — down from March’s 79.6 — the wholesale inflation gauge is considered high, he said.

As a weaker U.S. dollar pushed the price of imported goods higher and exported goods lower, the regional import index stood at a strong 59.3, an increase from 58.1 in March. But the new export index increased only slightly to 53.6 from 53 in March, still down from 55.3 in February.