A Creighton University survey of supply managers in manufacturing plants in the middle of the country shows business conditions improved in the region last month and remain solid in Iowa. Iowa’s “Business Conditions Index” for July slipped a bit from June, but was still showing growth. The latest federal data shows Iowa’s manufacturing sector shed 46-hundred jobs in the past 12 months. Creighton University’s Business Conditions Index found an uptick in economic conditions in just three of the nine states that are part of the survey. Overall, the supply managers indicated they were optimistic about economic prospects through the end of the year.