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Unemployment rate drops to 2.7% in May

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The state unemployment rate went down in May. “Iowa’s seasonably adjusted unemployment rate fell to 2.7% in May,” according to Iowa Workforce Development spokesman Cory Kelly. The rate was 2.8% in April.

Kelly says the unemployment rate has not been this low since 2001. The construction industry was one that added more jobs in May — which boosted the yearly total for the industry.”Construction hiring is again on the upswing with over 4,000 jobs added (this year). Trade industries fueled much of the growth this month. Wholesale trade rebounded from two consecutive months of losses to add 1,100 jobs,” Kelly says. The retail trades added jobs in May — the first time this has happened in 2018.

“Those job gains for retail are welcome news as this sector has steadily trended down since the recent high established in 2016,” Kelly says. “The overall outlook for retail however is for jobs to be trimmed as this sector deals with shifting consumer preferences.”

The Workforce Development report shows loses last month came in accommodations and food services (-800), nondurable goods manufacturing (-400), and finance and insurance (-400). Kelly says the low unemployment rate continues to make it tough for businesses to find skilled labor, but it can be helpful for those still looking for a job.

“This is good news for individuals who may have fallen out of the job market and have not seen a place for them in the recent past. This is an opportunity for them to reengage,” Kelly says. The unemployment rate in May was one-half percent lower than one year ago. The 2.7% state rate is still well below the 3.8% national rate.

 

Iowa party platforms speak to key policies on guns, abortion

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The proposed platforms that Iowa Democrats and Republicans will be asked to approve at their state conventions this Saturday illustrate the stark contrast between the parties on major issues.

Delegates at the Iowa Republican Party’s state convention this Saturday will be asked to ratify a party platform that calls for banning all abortions in Iowa, “without exceptions.” Republican lawmakers enacted the toughest abortion law in the country this year, but that ban on abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected — about the sixth week of pregnancy — includes exceptions for rape and incest.

Iowa Democrats have a proposed platform which declares the party’s opposition to that law as well as its support of Roe v Wade, the court decision that legalized abortion. The Democratic Party’s platform also calls for restoring government funding to Planned Parenthood.

When it comes to the gun issue, the Iowa Democratic Party’s platform calls for an “updated” assault weapons ban that would include limits on how many bullets may be in the magazine inserted in the gun. The Republican platform outlines GOP opposition to new gun restrictions and calls for letting “authorized personnel” who’ve undergone training carry guns in Iowa schools.

As it did in 2016, the Iowa GOP’s platform calls for an end to public sector unions. The Democratic Party’s document calls for restoring the bargaining rights of government workers that Republican lawmakers erased in 2017.

Iowa Democrats added a line to their proposed platform spelling out their opposition to “presidential self-pardons.” The Iowa GOP’s platform says all agreements with foreign countries “should be done by treaty and subject to approval by congress” — a relevant section given President Trump’s meeting tomorrow with North Korea’s leader.

State convention delegates in both parties are likely to debate some items in each proposed document.

Iowa Libertarians held their state convention last Saturday. Libertarians nominated Lynne Gentry Rockwell City as their lieutenant governor running mate. In 2014, she ran for a seat in the Iowa legislature and got 21 percent of the vote in the district that covers Pocahontas, Humboldt and Calhoun Counties.

Judge rules agency chief fired for alleged sexual harassment ineligible for unemployment

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David Jamison (file photo)

An administrative law judge has ruled the director of the Iowa Finance Authority who was fired over sexual harassment allegations is not eligible for unmployment benefits.

Governor Kim Reynolds fired Iowa Finance Authority director Dave Jamison in late March, a day after two of the agency’s employees complained to the governor’s chief of staff about Jamison’s behavior. An administrative law judge has ruled the allegations against Jamison were “credible,” he was discharged for “job related misconduct” and he was owed no “prior warning” he’d be fired.

Jamison got nearly $3200 in unemployment benefits. The judge said Jamison won’t be required to repay the state for that amount because the governor’s office did not challenge his initial application for unemployment benefits.

 

Raising wages — three approaches from three candidates in third district

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Pete D’Alessandro

The three candidates seeking the Democratic Party’s nomination in Iowa’s third congressional district are proposing different methods for raising incomes for low-wage workers. The topic was discussed tonight during a 90-minute forum sponsored by The Des Moines Register and KCCI television.

Pete D’Alessandro of Des Moines supports immediately raising the minimum wage to 15-dollars-an-hour.

“We should be fighting for a minimum wage that guarantees that you’re not living in poverty,” D’Alessandro said. “…That’s why I say the debate starts at $15 an hour. I won’t compromise on that.”

Cindy Axne of West Des Moines would establish an inflation factor that will keep raising the minimum wage periodically in the future and she suggests raising the wage too high too fast can have a negative effect.

“My concern is always about making sure that an individual has an opportunity for a life of dignity…and we certainly aren’t going to get there if people are laid off because businesses can’t afford it,” Axne said.

Eddie Mauro of Des Moines said rather than raising the minimum wage, he’d raise the earned income tax credit instead.

“I think we need a bolder, better and more progressive plan,” Mauro said. “…At $36,000 to $40,000 a year, you can improve your skills and then you make your wages higher, your salary’s higher and then that credit comes down some.”

The three candidates are competing to the Democrat who faces off against Republican Congressman David Young in November.

Governor says fired IFA director should not get unemployment benefits

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David Jamison (file photo)

Governor Kim Reynolds’ administration is resisting fired Iowa Finance Authority director Dave Jamison’s application for unemployment benefits.

“He was terminated for sexual harassment and I think that disqualifies him for unemployment,” Reynolds told reporters late this morning.

Reynolds fired Jamison less than 24 hours after getting a letter from a woman in Jamison’s agency who gave detailed examples of Jamison’s alleged behavior. Reynolds did not speak with Jamison or launch an investigation before his firing, factors Jamison could cite when a state administrative law judge reviews his request for unemployment benefits.

“The judge will decide that,” Reynolds told reporters. “But he was terminated for sexual harassment. I think the evidence is pretty clear and I think that disqualifies him for unemployment.”

Iowa Public Radio first reported last Friday that officials in the Department of Administrative Services — the state’s human resources agency — had filed an objection to Jamison’s request for unemployment benefits. The hearing before an administrative law judge is scheduled next Tuesday, June 5th.

A female employee in the Iowa Finance Authority wrote to Reynolds in March, saying Jamison’s behavior made women feel unsafe at work.

State making another push to hire veterans

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IWD Director Beth Townsend.

The leaders of the Department of Administrative Services and Iowa Workforce Development says they are putting on another push to hire veterans to fill state jobs.

IWD Director Beth Townsend says it’s especially important now with the amount of jobs that need to be filled. “At IWD we are committed to helping veterans find jobs in Iowa because of our significant skills gap. We are also committed to hiring veterans within IWD,” Townsend says. “This issue is very personal to me because I moved to Iowa from active duty and it was a difficult transition. I was a fish out of water and I felt that my military experience actually was a hindrance to me.” Townsend says it was tough to get employers to grasp what she as a veteran had to offer their company.

“Like many veterans, I couldn’t get employers to look at my skill set as opposed to the experience I had on my resume,” Townsend explains. “It is important that as hiring managers we look beyond a list of jobs that have been held by veterans — and instead look at that skill set.” She says they are working with veterans to help them better showcase what they have to offer when they apply for a job.

“On Home Base Iowa we have a tool that would help the veteran translate their military experience into more civilianized terms so they can describe it in a term that a hiring manager from a plant might recognize,” according to Townsend.

Janet Phipps.

Department of Administrative Services director, Janet Phipps says they are trying to let managers know the importance of hiring veterans and what they bring to a position.

“There’s is already a veterans hiring preference as far as a points system is concerned. What we’re just really wanting to highlight is that having veterans come into a civilian workforce is different — and as has been talked about, — sometimes the terminology doesn’t translate,” Phipps says. “We have our own acronyms in the state, the military has their own acronyms, and we just want to make sure that that translation gets done.”

Phipps is also a veteran. The two made their comments prior to a state workshop on hiring veterans.

 

Economic and Workforce agencies teaming up to survey labor force in all 99 counties

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Photos from Workforce Development labor study brochure.

The Iowa Economic Development Authority and Iowa Workforce Development have announced a plan where they will team up for a survey of the labor market in all 99 counties.

Workforce Development’s Ryan Murphy oversees the labor market information division, and says it will be a study of what’s called the laborshed area.

“I often compare it to a watershed area where you have lakes and streams that flow into a large bodies of water. People are more familiar with that,” Murphy says. “A laborshed area is more like a commuting pattern where we have people traveling in on two-lane highways, and walking to work and the interstate to a central employment area.” He says it gives counties and idea of the source of workers.

“Your employees come from much further away than your county right — it could be the next county over or two counties depending on if you are on an interstate or four-lane highway,” Murphy explains. “And it really shows the quantity, the size of your labor market area, your labor pool. So it better describes the area where your employer or perspective employers could be drawing their employees from.” While it’s obvious in some counties where the workers are coming from — others aren’t as easy to figure out.

“It’s very important for those border communities. We know we are not just getting people in Decorah for work from Winneshiek County. We know that there are people from Minnesota and Wisconsin that are also coming to that area for work. This helps employers identify where there could be pockets of available labor,” Murphy says. The second phase of the laborshed study involves a phone survey of the potential labor pool.

“Asking people about whether they are employed or not employed. Their wages, their benefits currently being offered, their occupations, their industry, their desired ages, their benefits, how far they are commuting,” Murphy explains. “One of the really unique data points that we have with the laborshed survey is where are people looking for jobs if they are looking. If they are likely to change employment or accept new employment — what resources are they using to do that?” Iowa’s unemployment rate is one of the lowest in the country. Murphy says the survey will hopefully help better match up employers with employees.

“The laborshed study doesn’t create new people, so what we’re trying to do is really hone in on where there are pockets of available labor within the existing pool that we have,” according to Murphy. With all the telemarketing and phone scams going on, it can be hard to get people to participate in the survey. Murphy says they try to let people know that this is a legitimate process.

He says they send out news releases in the areas they are working in so people know if they are asked questions about their employment, they can know that it is a legitimate survey from Iowa Workforce Development.

They will begin the laborshed study in July and plan to complete 44 counties in the first year and the remaining 45 in the second year. Murphy says they are using state and federal funds for the survey and it will cost around $950,000 each year. The data from the surveys will be provided to local economic development organizations and partners for free.

 

 

$7.4 billion state budget, $2 billion in tax cuts clear 2018 Iowa legislature

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Republican lawmakers passed a more than $2 billion plan to cut taxes over the next six years and they completed work on next year’s $7.4 billion state budget on Saturday. It was the 118th and final day of the 2018 Iowa legislative session.

With Republican Kim Reynolds in the governor’s office and Republicans in the majority in the House and Senate, the GOP controlled the legislature’s agenda. House Speaker Linda Upmeyer of Clear Lake praised her GOP colleagues on Saturday.

“You all came together and time after time, you chose real change rather than defending the status quo,” Upmeyer said in a closing speech late Saturday afternoon. “…We stood together for the opportunity to improve the future of Iowa and you can go home to your communities proudly sharing our significant achievements.”

A year ago, in Republicans Governor Terry Branstad’s closing month’s in office, Republican legislators dramatically reduced union bargaining rights for public sector workers and passed a ban on abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy. On Friday afternoon, Governor Kim Reynolds signed another bill that will basically ban most abortions in Iowa.

“For me, it’s immoral to stop an innocent, beating heart,” Reynolds said during a bill-signing ceremony in her formal office as protesters shouted outside. “…And, for me, my faith leads me to protect life.”

On Saturday, the Republican-led legislature dropped its plan to block federal funding to Planned Parenthood’s sex education programs for teenagers. The premiere action of the legislature’s last day, though, was passage of a massive tax plan that eventually will cut individual and corporate income taxes by 400-million dollars a year.

“This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity I feel that we have today to ensure a prosperous for the future,” Representative Peter Cownie, a Republican from West Des Moines, said.

Democrats dismissed the GOP’s assertions that tax cuts will stimulate economic growth as make-believe “pixie dust” and Senator Herman Quirmbach of Ames sid there will be a “flood tide of red ink” in the state budget.

“If this bill becomes law it will be the single most fiscally irresponsible bill in Iowa history,” Quirmbach said.

Mark Smith of Marshalltown, the Democratic leader in the Iowa House, faulted Republicans for keeping final details of the tax bill underwraps until the legislature’s closing hours.

“You chose to work behind closed doors with special interests instead,” Smith said late Saturday afternoon in a speech on the House floor. “The Iowans we represent deserve better.”

House Majority Leader Chris Hagenow, a Republican from Windsor Heights, the Republican-led legislature has taken “consequential” actions over the past two years.

“In November, 2016, Iowans entrusted Republicans to lead the House, Senate and the governor’s office,” Hagenow said in a speech on the closing day. “The message the voters sent was clear: they wanted smaller, smarter, more conservative government.”

The debate over that record will now shift out of the statehouse and onto the campaign trail. Voters in November will select 25 senators and 100 state representatives to serve in the legislature for the next two years.

Democrats not happy with marketing contract for Future Ready program

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Senator Bill Dotzler

Republican legislators are setting aside $2.25 million to finance new internships and apprenticeships associated with the “Future Ready Iowa” program.

Governor Kim Reynolds launched the initiative in 2016 when she was lieutenant governor, to encourage enrollment in science, technology, engineering and math or “STEM” courses.

Democrats complain the Reynolds Administration plans to spend $425,000 to advertise the program. “We don’t need to do this. You know it isn’t right. This stinks,” Senator Bill Dotzler, a Democrat from Waterloo, said early Thursday morning during Senate debate.

Dotzler argued the $425,000 would be better spent helping students pay for college or technical training. And Dotzler objected to the already-signed contract that calls for airing ads touting the governor’s signature “Future Ready” program in September, October and November — during the height of campaign season.

“It smells like there’s something in the governor’s wood pile,” Dotzler said, “and it smells like inappropriate use of public dollars for political purposes.”

Brenna Smith, a spokeswoman for Governor Reynolds, issued a written statement.

“Future Ready Iowa remains a top priority of the governor, and we will continue working with the Legislature to make sure Iowans know about the opportunity to apply for last-dollar scholarships and grants in fields that lead to high-demand jobs,” Smith said.

Smith indicated Reynolds plans to ask legislators to provide the money for the “last dollar scholarships” next year.

Several Iowa organizations on Forbes list of ‘Best Employers’

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The Old Capitol on the University of Iowa campus.

A publication has included 11 Iowa-based businesses on a list of “America’s Best Employers.”

Forbes Magazine, working with a market research company, surveyed some 30,000 American workers to compile two lists of the top companies to work for in the U.S. Among large companies, Principal Financial Group in Des Moines ranked 4th among the top 500.

Among midsized employers, Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield ranked 3rd. Some of the other Iowa companies making the lists; Wells Enterprises in Le Mars (#285 midsized) and Pella Corporation (#403 large).

The University of Iowa and Iowa State University are recognized as well.