Tech Corridor Sees Job Growth this Spring

Heartland Express and Rockwell Among Those Hiring

Donnelle Eller • Des Moines Register

Iowa added 7,300 jobs in March, the third month in a row businesses added positions, leading to more hope that the state's economy is mending.

But Iowa's unemployment rate ticked up to 6.8 percent in March from 6.7 percent in February as discouraged workers again began looking for jobs. A year ago, Iowa's unemployment rate was 5.5 percent.

A record number of Iowans — 1.68 million — were in the labor force in March. The number includes both Iowans who are working and looking for work, said Iowa Workforce Development in a report Friday. When people stop looking for work, they are no longer counted in unemployment figures.

"It will take time to achieve the strong and sustained job growth that is needed to significantly reduce the state's unemployment rate," said Elisabeth Buck, director of the state agency.

Iowa's weak job growth won't likely improve until the third quarter, state officials have said.

Sunayana Mehra, an economist at Moody's Economy.com, said Iowa and its largest metropolitan areas are in recovery, partially sparked by manufacturing.

Iowa manufacturers added 1,400 jobs in March, although factories were still down 8,600 positions compared with a year ago, the state report showed.

Mehra said a weak U.S. dollar is helping to drive global demand for Iowa products like tractors Deere & Co. makes in Waterloo.

"There's a lot of inventory restocking that's going on," she said. "And exports are boosting manufacturing employment" as international economies rebound faster than the United States'.

Manufacturing also was a part of the 2,800 professional and business services jobs added last month, said Kerry Koonce, an Iowa Workforce Development spokeswoman.

Most of the added business service jobs - from accountants to factory workers - were through temporary services providers, she said. "That's positive. A lot of companies hire temporary workers before hiring full-time permanent jobs," Koonce said.

The state calculated that 15,400 jobs were added in the first quarter, after revisions were made. It's the "clearest indication that the recovery is gaining traction," the work force agency said.

Mike Gerdin, president of Heartland Express, said the North Liberty trucking company is again hiring drivers - in Iowa, Arizona and Texas - after a year of business declines. "Even if growth is slow and takes a while, it's better than where it was," said Gerdin. "Last year was grim."

Freight volumes are "nowhere near 2005, '06 or '07, but business is stable," he said.

Rockwell Collins said the Cedar Rapids aeronautics company has more than 200 jobs - in divisions as diverse as engineering and finance - to fill, many of which are in Iowa.

Steve Schulz, director of Rockwell Collins' talent acquisition, said high unemployment rates have hurt more than helped.

Top performers have hunkered down. "The economy has been so unpredictable, with so many companies getting hit hard, many people have been reluctant to take a risk," said Schulz, especially when faced with selling a home. "It's really impacted a lot of movement."

Gerdin, the Heartland executive, said consumer and business confidence need to strengthen before his business can significantly improve.

Adding more jobs is critical to confidence. "For us to move products, people and businesses have to be buying," he said.

The company hauls freight nationally for companies that range from retailers to manufacturers.

Although Iowa's construction industry is still losing jobs, Mehra said she believes Iowa's construction industry should begin improving.

Iowa lost 200 building jobs in March and has 4,400 fewer positions compared with a year earlier.

Single and multifamily home building permits in Iowa were about 70 percent higher in February than in February 2009, federal data show.

Bill Ferguson, a Grinnell College economist, said he expects construction employment will begin to rebound as Iowa's weather improves and state and federal stimulus money again kicks in.

"You need spending. That helps you get out of a recession," he said. "And once consumers see we've turned a corner, they get optimistic and can pull the economy up more quickly."