The leaders of Iowa’s largest businesses are growing less optimistic about the state’s economy. The Iowa Business Council’s (IBC) third quarter Economic Outlook Survey, released Thursday, shows projections for sales, capital spending, and hiring are all down several points from three months ago. Elliott Smith, executive director of the IBC, says “Our third quarter survey shows, I think, a little elevation of some anxieties that have been building among business leaders in this state — and really around the country — on the tenuous nature of the economy right now.”

The Iowa Business Council includes the CEOs of the state’s largest companies and each quarter they’re surveyed about their projections for sales, capital spending, and employment over the next six months. Numbers dropped in all three categories in the latest survey. “There isn’t anything that we’re raising red flags on yet, we’re still in positive sentiment territory for all of our indicators, so that’s good,” Smith says.

The chair of the Iowa Business Council, Mike Wells, says uncertainty in the global economy is making it difficult for Iowa companies to chart strategic plans.

(Radio Iowa)