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(ABC 6 News) — The Iowa economy is said to be one of the worst in the country, according to a new report from WalletHub.
More specifically, Iowa ranks last for economic activity, 48th in economic health, and 28th in innovation potential.
The head of Iowa’s Economic Development Agency says the economy is strong but blames the ranking on the state’s population.
Iowa has roughly 1.6 million workers, about 20,000 less than before the pandemic.
Without workers, companies have a hard time expanding or moving to Iowa.
“Quality of life amenities are very important to economic development and if you went back 10-15 years ago, no one talked about quality of life, they talked about bringing in a new factory of whatever,” said Jeff Pomeranz, the city manager for the City of Cedar Rapids.
Iowa’s economic development director says the state needs to capitalize on tourism efforts that already bring people to the state.