Executives see Iowa economy improving in national survey

The outlook on Iowa's economy from the executive suite has improved again in the Iowa Business Council's latest quarterly survey.

The survey of Iowa Business Council members found that 47 expect sales to trend higher in the next six months, 58 percent expect their organization's capital spending to increase in the next six months, and 53 percent expect their organization to boost employment in the next six months.

Those positive observations are a significant improvement from the last quarterly survey, when 43 percent were expecting higher sales, 38 percent were expecting higher capital spending, and 43 percent were expecting higher employment.

The index used by the council to track executive sentiment rose two points to 66.7 from 64.7 three months ago, and is now 12 points higher than one year ago.

The subindex with the strongest improvement was the sales index, which rose six points to 75. The capital spending and employment subindexes each rose three points.

The survey was returned by 19 corporate members of the Iowa Business Council during ehs econd half of February. The 24-member council includes top executives of 20 of the state's largest businesses, in addition to the three Regents university presidents and the leader of Iowa' largest banking association.