A survey of businesses in nine midwestern states shows continued improvement in the economy. Creighton University economist Ernie Goss conducts the monthly survey. Goss says the business index he uses was a little below February’s mark, but still positive.This is the second straight month the index shows positive growth for business orders. Goss says the index rose sharply for Iowa.He says that indicates an expansion of orders by companies, but he says there are not a lot of new jobs being created yet. He expects the improvement for Iowa to continue gradually. Goss says businesses haven’t seen a turnaround in profits yet, and will still be shy about creating more jobs until that turns around.Goss says you can expect interest rates to start going back up again by the end of the year.Goss’ survey also includes Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Oklahoma and Arkansas.