(AP) — The Nebraska economy continued to grow modestly in the second quarter as manufacturing businesses sold more exports and the housing construction picked up.

The Federal Reserve Bank’s Omaha branch executive Nathan Kauffman says the number of nonfarm jobs in the state grew 0.7 percent from April to the end of June.

Kauffman says the value of exported goods from Nebraska plants grew 15 percent to $1.7 billion in the quarter.

The number of single-family home building permits also jumped more than 30 percent, and permits for multi-family construction grew 80 percent.

In addition to those factors, retail sales were 5 percent higher than last year’s second quarter figure. So consumers were spending more even though earnings growth remained relatively flat.