Three months of no movement has turned into a big surge in jobs in the latest employment report out from the state. Iowa Workforce Development labor analyst Ann Wagner says we had a substantial drop in unemployment to four-point-five percent — translating to 73-thousand-500 unemployed for the month. The unemployment rate had held at five-point-one percent the past three months — and the April rate was also slightly below the rate one year ago in April. Wagner says employers added 67-hundred new jobs in April. She says the biggest increase occurred in professional and business services. She says that was one of the state’s fastest growing industries prior to the recession. It includes computer related services, advertising, temp agencies, telemarketing and other services employers contract out. Wagner says this could be an indication the economy is turning the corner. She says, “Actually we’re hoping we’ve reached the point that we’ve waited for for so long.” She says this is the first month there wasn’t any decline in any industry. Wagner isn’t ready to say the economy is in a permanent upswing. She says they’re taking a cautionary approach and can’t say we’ll see the same job upsurge next month, but says they hope it will continue. The number of unemployed persons was down 98-hundred from March and down 33-hundred from one year ago. The U.S. unemployment rate held steady at five-point-two percent in April.
