A new survey concludes the Des Moines-area economy will be a bit more sluggish this summer when compared to the rest of the cities in the state. Michael Lynch is a spokesman for Manpower Employment Services, which conducted the survey of businesses. Just 10 percent of businesses in the Des Moines area intend to hire new workers in July, August and September, while the statewide “hiring intentions” average is 26 percent.Lynch says the weak job growth figure for a couple of the Iowa locales can be attributed to the scale-back in government services. Lynch says the survey shows the overall effects of the recession as hiring has softened from this time last year. Here are, city-by-city, percentage of businesses which intend to expand/hire new workers during the summer: 30 percent of Burlington businesses; 28 percent of Cedar Rapids businesses; 40 percent of Iowa City businesses; 23 percent of businesses in the Iowa Quad Cities; 29 percent of Marshalltown businesses; 24 percent of Mason City-area businesses; 13 percent of Muscatine businesses; 37 percent of Ottumwa businesses; 27 percent of Sioux City businesses and 27 percent of Waterloo businesses.
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