Governor Kim Reynolds is using nearly 40 percent of the federal coronavirus relief money Iowa received to cover unemployment benefits. She's depositing $490 million dollars into the state's Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund. Iowa Association of Business and Industry president Mike Ralston says … [Read more...]
Continuing unemployment claims drop
The weekly unemployment claims dropped again this past week as more businesses keep opening up. The number of continuing unemployment claims dropped by about 9,200 in the last week to 143,488. It is the seventh straight week the overall unemployment claims have dropped. Last week's drop in … [Read more...]
Iowa a little behind other states in Creighton economic survey
A survey finds Iowa's economy is slowly recovering from the pandemic, but the state is lagging behind the Midwest overall in clawing back from widespread shut-downs and job losses. Creighton University economist Ernie Goss says their survey of business owners across the nine-state region found a … [Read more...]
Unemployment rate makes small drop in May
The state unemployment rate moved down slightly in May. Iowa Workforce Development says the May jobless rate is 10% -- down from 10.2% percent in April -- as the impact from the coronavirus pandemic lingers. The unemployment rate one year ago in May was 2.7%. IWD says establishments added … [Read more...]
John Deere implementing new operating model and restructing
Quad Cities-based John Deere is restructuring and implementing a new operating model. Spokeswoman Jen Hartmann says it's been eleven years since the last "global" restructuring. The new model is called the Deere Smart Industrial strategy. "The new org model is making sure -- and this is really … [Read more...]
Continuing unemployment claims drop
Ongoing unemployment claims dropped again last week. The number of continuing claims fell by 3,516 to 155,752. That's down by about 34,900 from the peak of 189,643 back in the first week of May. First-time unemployment claims dropped slightly to around 9,516. Manufacturing continued to lead in … [Read more...]
Unemployment claims expected to fluctuate for now
Overall unemployment claims were down last week despite an increase in first-time claims. The first-time claims were up after dropping by nearly 50 percent the previous week. Iowa Workforce Development deputy director, Ryan West, isn't sure why there was such a swing. "It''s hard telling. I think … [Read more...]
Iowa and other states see improvement in Creighton University economic survey
For the first time in months, Iowa's economic numbers improved during May along with that of the Midwest, but the state and region are still struggling under fallout from the pandemic. Creighton University economist Ernie Goss says the monthly survey of business owners and supply managers in Iowa … [Read more...]
Small increase reported in new unemployment claims last week
New unemployment claims moved up slightly last week. First-time claims were 14,586 which is up around 25,000 from the previous week. It is the first time in three weeks those claims have gone up. Manufacturing saw the most new claims with 3,835. Self-employed and independent contractors filed … [Read more...]
New and ongoing unemployment claims dropped last week
The number of first-time unemployment claims dropped again last week. Iowa Workforce Development reports the new claims were 13,040. That's down by nearly 2,800 from the previous week. The number of continuing weekly unemployment claims was 187,375 -- which is down by nearly 2,700 -- and is the … [Read more...]