Statewide Iowa — (RI) — The latest economic report from Creighton University shows significant improvements in both the Iowa and Midwestern economies for the second month in a row.
Creighton economist Ernie Goss and his team survey business leaders and supply managers every month in Iowa and eight other states. Goss says the January figures are much improved.
Manufacturers closely linked to agriculture continue to experience slow to no growth, Goss says, which is troublesome for Iowa’s ag-based economy. Still, he says hiring numbers in Iowa are beginning to pick up and they’re showing much greater progress across the region, rising from below 46 to nearly 54 on a 100-point scale.
Over the past 12 months, the Creighton survey found average hourly wages for private workers in Iowa expanded by three-percent, which ranked seventh in the nine-state region. There was encouraging news for anyone looking to borrow money, like to buy a house or a car.
Two sizeable trade deals were signed during January, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement and phase one of the Chinese trade agreement.
Trade has been the big factor restraining growth for the Mid-American economy, according to Goss, as one-third of companies indicated they had switched vendors because of the on-going trade war. One other issue, Goss says the coronavirus — which originated in China but is spreading quickly to many other nations — is something to watch carefully.
At least 11 cases are reported in the U-S, though coronavirus has sickened some 17-thousand people in China and killed more than 360.
