Iowa’s unemployment rate fell a full point during October, to 3.6%, tied with South Dakota for third lowest in the country, behind only Nebraska and Vermont.
About 4700 people were hired in Iowa’s construction industry last month. State officials say it’s the first time since May there’s been job growth in construction. There were still layoffs in Iowa’s food service and hotel industries last month.
The data shows the size of Iowa’s workforce has shrunk by about 90,000 compared to pre-pandemic levels.Iowa’s unemployment rate peaked in April at 11%.