MUSCATINE, Iowa – Dr. Ernie Goss, Jack MacAllister Chair in Regional Economics at Creighton University and Scott Strain, Senior Economist, Goss and Associates and Adjunct Professor, University of Nebraska-Omaha, are the co-authors of a new series of TEF Iowa reports which will model jobs, economic activity, and tax receipts lost in Iowa as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Public Health Emergency Declaration impacting workers and businesses.
The first report entitled The Economic Impact of COVID-19 on the Iowa Economy: A First Cut was released by TEF Iowa on Wednesday.
“We recognize this report is a brief snapshot of the data currently available and the picture will become even more clear after April data is released later this month, but we can already see that the effects of COVID-19 on our state’s economy are going to have an incredible impact, both in terms of wages and jobs lost to Iowans and on future state budgets,” said Walt Rogers, TEF Iowa’s Deputy Director, a former Iowa State Representative.
Some highlights from the report:
- Economic modeling estimates over $1.6 billion in lost economic activity in Iowa from March 21 through April 11, including lost jobs, wages, and self-employment income.
- Future Iowa state and local sales tax receipts are estimated to decline by $37 million due to the lost economic activity from that period, while future state personal and corporate income tax receipts are estimated to decline by nearly $30 million.
- Absent federal support via the CARES Act and Federal Reserve stimulus, the impact of COVID-19 is expected to reduce Iowa’s 2020 GDP by 9.7 percent.
TEF also held a webinar about the new report on Wednesday afternoon.
Prior to the webinar, they held a press briefing, that you can listen to below:
