Even though he’s in Hamburg, Germany, for an international economics conference, Creighton University economist Ernie Goss phoned Radio Iowa to provide the results of the latest monthly survey of Iowa business leaders and supply managers.
Goss says Iowa’s manufacturing sector expanded during April at a pace well above that of the region and nation. Goss says there’s pretty good expansion, especially in the durable goods sector, while the information technology area isn’t doing as well as we’ve seen in prior months.
While many immigrants and supporters in Iowa walked away from their jobs Monday as part of a national demonstration, Goss says the state’s job picture is solid overall. Goss says the Iowa numbers look very good as employment growth in the first quarter is above two-percent with eight-thousand jobs being created. He says “strikes” like this one are indicative of what’s going on in the labor market as jobs are being added at a very strong pace.
Goss envisions the Federal Reserve Board taking swift action in the wake of such robust employment growth. Goss anticipates another interest rate hike next week by the Fed on May 10th and likely another one in June. Based on the survey, he says Iowa can expect to gain another 73-hundred jobs in the second quarter before higher interest rates, escalating energy prices and softer farm income begin to slow growth.