Trade and transportation, manufacturing, and government were the biggest categories where jobs grew in August…but Workforce analyst Ann Wagner says one central Iowa commercial center affected the whole state’s jobless statistics. Government was just a seasonal fluctuation, but in “trade and transportation,” the state figures were affected by the opening of Jordan Creek, as retail trade, slow in recent years, saw many new jobs and expects more in the next few months. Retail trade, like manufacturing, has been “on the soft side” the last few years, so it’s good to see an infusion of jobs into that industry. Wagner says “they were talking about a total of 3,000 jobs gradually” at all the retail stores and restaurants at Jordan Creek, and in August we probably started out with a little over 2,000. Iowa’s monthly unemployment report shows the jobless rate up a tenth of a percent, but analyst Wagner says that’s because many people encouraged by the rebounding economy set out to look for work and rejoined the job force.
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