Iowa (RI) — The latest Iowa Business Council survey finds a significant increase in optimism about the economy among some of the state’s largest employers.
Iowa Business Council president Joe Murphy says the council represents 21 Iowa-based companies that employ over 160 thousand people and a combined payroll of over 10 billion dollars.
The survey indicates over the next six months that vast majority of Iowa Business Council members will either hire more employees or don’t expect to make changes in their workforce.
The survey found almost 70 percent of Iowa Business Council members plan to make capital investments in infrastructure or technology over the next six months that are higher than what was spent on physical assets in the last half of 2024.
Over 60 percent of Iowa Business Council members expect sales increases in 2025. Surveys of Iowa Business Council executives during the first, second and third quarter of 2024 reflected a general sense of uncertainty about the economy — but Murphy says that evaporated during the survey conducted in December.
The Federal Reserve, for instance, has signaled it will cut interest rates a half a point in 2025.
