The Iowa Business Council’s first quarter survey shows optimism for the next six months, though numbers are down compared to last year.
IBC president Joe Murphy says the survey measures member expectations for sales, capital spending, and employment on a 100-point scale. “Anything above a value of 50 represents a positive outlook, and we’re well above that. Overall, the Outlook Survey is more than 57 points. So that’s a great that’s a great indication for where we are currently,” Murphy says.
Murphy says there’s cautious optimism with some federal proposals ahead. “We’re definitely going the right direction on the tax packages to extend the 2017 tax cuts and Jobs Act. We’re heading in the right direction from a policy stance on regulation. So that’s all great, but none of those things have been enacted yet,” he says. The survey was completed before the latest round of federal tariffs. Murphy says the anticipation of the tariffs did have an impact. “Trying to evaluate the impact on Iowa companies. And you know as the larger concern that we have with tariffs would be that the tariff policy of the United States could result in retaliatory tariffs placed on key sectors of Iowa’s economy,” he says. Murphy says the outcome of the tariffs is still unknown.
Iowa has seen some job losses in manufacturing recently, but Murphy says other industries are absorbing those workers. “We are seeing that. And I think when you take a step back and look at it more broadly, from an economic standpoint, that’s what makes Iowa very resilient in some of these downturns and some of these key industry areas,” Murphy says. “We have a great and well diversified economy in our state, with financial services, manufacturing, agriculture, obviously, bio sciences.”
The IBC’s 21 members are the chief decision makers of major Iowa employers. You can see the full survey on their website at iowabusinesscouncil.org.