A growing number of Iowa business owners are confident about boosting their staffing levels in the coming months according to a new survey from Manpower, Incorporated. Karen Miller, Executive Vice-President at Manpower in Des Moines, says 22-percent of the Iowa employers surveyed plan to hire new employees in the second quarter of 2012. Four-percent plan decreases in staff levels, resulting in a “Net Employment Outlook” of 18-percent. “That’s significantly different than last year at this time – which was a 10-percent (outlook),” Miller said. The 18-percent Net Employment Outlook for Iowa remains much higher than the national figure of 10-percent.

“We seem to be in a bubble of prosperity here in the state of Iowa,” Miller said. “That’s good news for both employers and job seekers.” The top job prospects in Iowa, according to the survey, include positions in construction. Employers also plan to increase staffing levels in the areas of durable and non-durable goods manufacturing, transportation and utilities, wholesale and retail trade, and financial and business services. More than 18,000 employers are surveyed in the U.S. as part of the quarterly Manpower report. A new report on Iowa’s unemployment rate is due later this morning (Tuesday) from the Iowa Workforce Development agency.

(Pat Curtis/Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

The State Fire Marshall’s Office reports Madison County will be included in a ban on open burning, beginning 8-a.m Tuesday, March 13th. A request to institute the ban was requested by Madison County Sheriff Craig Busch, after consultation with various County Fire Chiefs. At this time, Madison County is the only county in western Iowa to placed under a ban on open burning.

The Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) will hold two public information meetings this week regarding the update of Iowa’s state transportation plan. One of the meetings will be held from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday, March 15th, at the Iowa DOT District 4 Office, in Atlantic.

At the meeting, a presentation will be made at 5:15 p.m. Personnel will be available between 4:30 and 6:30 p.m. to individually discuss the plan. The meeting rooms are accessible for persons with disabilities. To provide comments, or to request special accommodations at a meeting, please contact the Iowa DOT, Office of Systems Planning, 800 Lincoln Way, Ames, Iowa 50010, telephone 515-239-1520, email Iowa.Motion@dot.iowa.gov.

The Iowa DOT will be accepting public comment on the plan through March 30, 2012. To view information concerning the plan, go to the Iowa DOT’s website at http://www.iowadot.gov/iowainmotion/state.html.

A Nebraska woman was arrested this (Monday) morning in Pottawattamie County, after an Iowa State Patrol Trooper performed a PIT maneuver. The Patrol says a vehicle driven by 41-year old Wendy Johnson-Delong, of La Vista, NE, was eluding law enforcement on Interstate 80 at around 1:50-a.m., about two-miles east of the Walnut exit, when 40-year old Trooper Brian Beenen, of Council Bluffs, used the 2009 Dodge Charger he was driving to nudge the woman’s car near the left rear quarter panel, causing Johnson-Delong’s car to spin into the median. 

After the vehicle came to rest and the woman was taken into custody, the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Department charged her with Assault with a weapon, eluding, and OWI/1^st Offense. She was booked into the Pott. County Jail at around 4-a.m., and posted a $5,000 bond a few hours later, before being released from custody. 

Damage to the vehicles involved in the incident amounted to $3,000.