The latest economic report from Creighton University shows significant improvements in both the Iowa and Midwestern economies for the second month in a row. Creighton economist Ernie Goss and his team survey business leaders and supply managers every month in Iowa and eight other states. Goss manufacturers closely linked to agriculture continue to experience slow to no growth, Goss says, which is troublesome for Iowa’s ag-based economy. Still, he says hiring numbers in Iowa are beginning to pick up and they’re showing much greater progress across the region. ,

Trade has been the big factor restraining growth for the Mid-American economy, according to Goss, as one-third of companies indicated they had switched vendors because of the on-going trade war.