Midwest business conditions worsen

Business conditions continued to worsen last month in Iowa and a nine-state region stretching from Arkansas to North Dakota.

The Creighton University Mid-America Business Conditions Index for September declined to 47.7 from 49.6 in August as a strong dollar and global economic weakness continued to negatively affect manufacturing in the region.

An index greater than 50 indicates an expanding economy over the course of the next three to six months. The September figure indicates slow to no economic growth over the next three to six months, according to Ernie Goss, director of Creighton's Institute for Economic Inquiry.

'Industries and areas dependent on agriculture and energy are experiencing cuts.” Goss said in a news release. 'Metal producers and agricultural equipment manufacturers continue to report job losses.

'The region's manufacturing sector has lost almost 15,000 jobs since this time last year, or approximately 1 percent of the region's manufacturing jobs.”

Looking ahead six months, economic optimism, as captured by the September business confidence index, slumped to 43.4 from 47.7 in August.

'Falling agriculture and energy commodity prices, along with global economic uncertainty, pushed supply managers' expectations of future economic conditions lower for the month,” Goss said.

Iowa's September Business Conditions Index declined to 50.2 in September from 51.6 in August.

Components of Iowa's index from the monthly survey of supply managers were new orders at 48.2, production or sales at 50.8, delivery lead time at 60.4, employment at 44.8, and inventories at 46.5.

'Job losses for heavy manufacturers in the state were more than offset by gains for nondurable goods producers, including food processors,” Goss said. 'Economic activity surrounding the upcoming Iowa caucuses has certainly been, and will continue to be, a boost to the state economy.”