[simage=1218,200,y,center]

The Iowa Business Council’s third quarter Economic Outlook Survey reports small growth ahead for Iowa’s economy. Washington Economic Workforce Development Director Ed Raber says the IBC is made up of 20 “publicly traded companies that are the largest employers in the state” including “John Deere, Pella Windows, Alliant Energy, MidAmerican Energy.” Raber says the organization puts out an Economic Survey every quarter that acts as a leading indicator of where employment, capital investment and sales forecasts are going. He says while most of the companies feel employment will only increase slightly in the near future, no respondents had planned large layoffs. In July, Washington County had a 5.4% unemployment rate, far below the state average of 6.8%.