The head of Iowa Workforce Development says the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for November rose one-tenth of a point from October to 3.1%.
Workforce director Beth Townsend says the increase was expected, even with the anticipated hiring of seasonal workers for the holidays.
“No, it wasn’t a surprise. We’ve been seeing a regular increase for quite some time due to anxiety and uncertainty, given the national election,” Townsend says, “so no, not surprised.”
The national unemployment rate also rose for the month to 4.2%, more than a full point above Iowa’s rate. Townsend says Iowa typically has a better showing than the U.S. figures.
“We have a much higher labor force participation rate,” she says. “The labor force participation rate nationally is 62.5 and our rate actually increased in November for the first time in 2024, so we’re at 66.3% which is good. We want to see it trending upwards.”
Another bright spot in the report, according to Townsend, was that hundreds of Iowans came back to the labor force in search of a job.
“I think the rate still reflects a little bit of uncertainty, and you didn’t have enough time between the election and the end of the month to see a whole lot of new hiring or things of that nature that would bring the unemployment rate down,” she says, “but we did see more people return to the workforce, and that is always a good sign. It was 1,600 people, so we’re very, very happy about that.”
Townsend says it’s possible we’ll see better numbers for December, though she admits there may not be a significant shift upwards until spring.
“Well, I would hope so,” Townsend says, “but again, given that the new administration has not started yet and there hasn’t been significant changes in economic policy at this time, there’s going to be a lag between when a new administration comes in and starts implementing their own policies and when business and economy can catch up.”
There are still more than 50,000 open jobs posted on IowaWorks.gov and Townsend says anyone who’s on the hunt for a new employment opportunity should log in.