Creighton University’s monthly survey finds Iowa’s economy took an upturn during July. Creighton economist Ernie Goss says the Hawkeye State’s economic picture is looking very healthy and all indicators show it’ll be staying that way for a while.
Goss says the survey of supply managers and business leaders in Iowa points to "pretty good growth" statewide in the months ahead, much of it being propelled by ethanol production and a strong farm income, growth which he projects will continue well into the third quarter. Goss says economic growth for the first half of 2007 was very healthy in Iowa and he expect the expansion to continue well into the fall.
Goss says Iowa’s economy did very well during the first six months of the year. Job growth in Iowa ran about two-percent for the first half of the year, which is about twice the national rate. He predicts Iowa’s unemployment rate will continue to fall another three-tenths of a point to three-point-five percent by October. Goss says Iowa’s economy is gaining a lot of momentum from the growing biofuels industry.
Goss cites "good farm income, ethanol production doing very well, truck transporters who are, of course, transporting products to and from the ethanol plants, doing very well. Put it all together and we’re going to see reasonably good growth." He says the downside is the high price of oil and fallout from the housing downturn. Goss says Iowa currently accounts for 12-percent of regional employment, but he predicts it will experience more than 16-percent of regional job growth for the third quarter.