Northwest Iowa — For the fifth straight month, a survey of business leaders in northwest Iowa and the region points to a continued slow down in growth.
Ernie Goss is an economist at Creighton University in Omaha, and he says the survey for December showed ailing employment numbers for the fifth month in a row, as the nine-state region lost more than 18-thousand manufacturing jobs during the year.
The Creighton survey found Iowa’s growth numbers have been steadily dropping but should remain in positive territory during the first and second quarters of 2016.
Passage of the Trans-Pacific Partnership could help bolster the lagging economy, according to Goss, for both the state and the region. The T-P-P is the largest multi-lateral trade agreement of its kind, involving the U-S and 11 other countries which combined, represent 40-percent of the world’s economy.
Iowa reaps huge rewards from its exports, especially to Asia, Goss says, and he predicts that trend would gain further momentum under the trade deal.
