Iowa’s unemployment rate in January went unchanged from December. Kerry Koonce is a spokesperson for the Iowa Workforce Development agency, which released the January report today. She says January’s unemployment rate stood at 6.1%. That’s the same figure for the newly calculated month of December, which had previously been reported at 6.3%.
Total employment in Iowa has been climbing over the past few months. In January, around 500 more Iowans were removed from the jobless ranks. The monthly estimate of unemployed persons declined to 102,100 in January from 102,600 in December.
The total number of working Iowans rose to 1,576,500 in January, the highest level reported since April 2009. “Overall, in the nonfarm area, we added 5,400 jobs (in January),” Koonce said. “We added (1,300) jobs in construction and we added some jobs in manufacturing.”
Iowa also recorded gains of 2,500 jobs in professional and business services and 3,200 jobs in retail trade, which includes the trade and transportation sector. Health services added 1,800 jobs. Government cut 1,300 jobs in January – mostly at the city and county level.
Compared to last year, nonfarm employment in Iowa has increased by 10,100 jobs. The financial services sector has recorded the most job losses over the year – cutting 1,600 jobs.
