The Iowa Business Council’s new survey shows a drop in the index that’s used to measure the expectations for sales, capital spending and hiring for the state’s 21 largest businesses. I-B-C executive director, Elliott Smith, says it is a cooling of expectations for the next six months.
Smith says the results show a pause in the “steady progress we’ve seen coming out of the economic downturn in the last couple of years.” He says it’s not something to get too concerned about yet.
The survey gauges the business outlook on a 100-point scale, and this survey dropped to 65.3 overall, compared to 66.7 in the last survey three months ago.
Smith says a variety of factors are impacting the optimism of business leaders. He says there’s international instability overseas, and some natural disasters that are playing into business activities regionally and in Iowa. Smith says the state legislature’s inability to close the session also has played a role.
The business leaders all say they expect to increase capital spending and employment slightly, but appear concerned about moving their products. Smith says sales were the one number that moved backwards in the survey, and that is after an historical high in the last quarter.
“Don’t know that it is anything yet to get too concerned about,” Smith says, as he says employment and capital spending levels remain steady. Smith says they are still looking forward to a good year in 2011. The sales index fell six points from the last quarter survey.
You can see the complete survey at the I-B-C’s website at:www.iowabusinesscouncil.org.
