Iowa Workforce Development spokesperson, Courtney Greene, says the September report out today shows the lowest unemployment rate in Iowa since 2006.
“Iowa’s unemployment rate is down another tenth of a percent to 3.6 percent in September, and a year ago we were standing at 4.3 percent,” Greene says.
The unemployment rate in August was 3.7 percent. July has been the only month this year where unemployment did not drop or stay the same. It went up a half percent in July to 3.8 percent. The U.S. unemployment rate remained at 5.1 percent in September.
The state did lose 2,100 nonfarm jobs in September, but those losses were offset by the gains. “Leisure and hospitality added the most jobs in September at about 1,500, and that was also bolstered by growth and accommodations in food service which added about 500. Education and health care also added 600 jobs. However, there were some losses in September — with the largest being in manufacturing.
Just one of Iowa’s 99 counties went against the trend of falling unemployment in September. “Cherokee was the only Iowa county to see unemployment rise from 3.9 percent a year ago to 4.4 percent this September. And that rise is due in part to the closing of the Tyson plant in Cherokee last fall, and the nearby Denison Tyson plant that closed its doors in August,” Greene says. The total number of working Iowans was 2,600 higher than August, and 2,700 more than one year ago.