IOWA DEPARTMENT OF WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT: IOWA'S UNEMPLOYMENT RATE REMAINS AT 2.5 PERCENT

By Press release submission

Sep 26, 2019

IOWA DEPARTMENT OF WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT issued the following announcement on September 20.

IOWA'S UNEMPLOYMENT RATE REMAINS AT 2.5 PERCENT

Iowa Workforce Development Communications

For Immediate Release

Date: September 20, 2019

Contact: Molly Elder

Telephone: 515-725-4116

Email: molly.elder@iwd.iowa.gov

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Iowa's Unemployment Rate Remains at 2.5 Percent

Iowa’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained at 2.5 percent in August. The state’s jobless rate was 2.4 percent one year ago. The U.S. unemployment rate remained at 3.7 percent in August.

"In August, we saw another increase in the number of working Iowans in the labor force, up 5,800 from last month,” said Director Beth Townsend, Iowa Workforce Development. “Even with the increase in the number of Iowans working, employers are still in search of skilled workers to fill tens of thousands of open jobs across the state. At the Future Ready Iowa Fall Summits, employers are sharing successful strategies with each other including working with the disabled, returning citizens, as well as how easy registered apprenticeship programs are to create and maintain and the overwhelmingly positive benefit employers get from these programs. There's still plenty of time to attend a summit and you can register at FutureReadyIowa.gov/registration."

The number of unemployed Iowans increased to 43,800 in August from 42,800 in July. The current estimate is 3,600 higher than the year ago level of 40,200.

The total number of working Iowans increased to 1,686,200 in August. This figure was 5,800 higher than July and 39,300 higher than one year ago.

Seasonally Adjusted Nonfarm Employment

In August, Iowa’s business establishments gained a slight 300 jobs over July’s total and now rest at 1,595,200 jobs. Firms involved in goods production showed the most promise (+800), while private services were sluggish since July and trended down (-700). Government was fueled by hiring at the state level and advanced by 200 jobs. This sector is now up 1,300 jobs annually.

Construction gained the most jobs in August (+1,000) and was bolstered by hiring in the construction of new residential and commercial buildings. This gain marks the fifth consecutive advancement for this sector following a weak start to the year. Financial activities added jobs in August (+800). This was the first monthly gain since May and helps trim some of the losses stretching back to last year. Professional and business services again added jobs (+600) with growth being concentrated within administrative support and waste management services. Losses this month were deepest in the education and health care super sector (-1,600). Virtually all the decline was due to reductions in staffing in the health care and social assistance sector. This drop would almost certainly be a temporary correction in payroll and not indicative of any long term trend for this sector. Trade, transportation, and utilities pared 400 jobs due to continued sluggishness in the retail sector.

Over the past twelve months, Iowa has trended up and is 12,600 jobs higher than last August. Despite two small declines over the past two months, manufacturing continues to be the catalyst of job growth (+6,500). Durable goods factories have provided more new jobs than non-durable goods shops. The other services sector advanced by 2,500 jobs and construction is now up 2,300 jobs annually. Those sectors paring jobs since last year are information services (-1,300), financial activities (-700), and trade, transportation, and utilities (-600).

MEDIA ALERT: Local data for August will be posted to the IWD website on Tuesday, September 24, 2019. Statewide data for September 2019 will be released on Friday, October 18, 2019.

Employment and Unemployment in Iowa, Seasonally Adjusted Data

				Change from
	August	July	August	July	August
	2019	2019	2018	2019	2018

Civilian labor force	1,729,900	1,723,200	1,687,100	6,700	42,800
Unemployment	43,800	42,800	40,200	1,000	3,600
Unemployment rate	2.5%	2.5%	2.4%	0.0	0.1
Employment	1,686,200	1,680,400	1,646,900	5,800	39,300

U.S. unemployment rate	3.7%	3.7%	3.8%	0.0	-0.1

Nonfarm Employment in Iowa, Seasonally Adjusted Data

Total Nonfarm Employment	1,595,200	1,594,900	1,582,600	300	12,600
Mining	2,400	2,400	2,500	0	-100
Construction	80,200	79,200	77,900	1,000	2,300
Manufacturing	229,200	229,400	222,700	-200	6,500
Trade, transportation and utilities	311,600	312,000	312,200	-400	-600
Information	20,800	20,600	22,100	200	-1,300
Financial activities	108,500	107,700	109,200	800	-700
Professional and business services	142,500	141,900	140,300	600	2,200
Education and health services	234,700	236,300	234,600	-1,600	100
Leisure and hospitality	143,700	143,900	143,300	-200	400
Other services	59,600	59,700	57,100	-100	2,500
Government	262,000	261,800	260,700	200	1,300
(above data subject to revision)

Unemployment Insurance Claims for Iowa

				% Change from
	August	July	August	July	August
	2019	2019	2018	2019	2018

Initial claims	9,104	11,687	8,096	-22.1%	12.5%
Continued claims
Number of claimants	18,863	20,070	18,706	-6.0%	0.8%
Weeks paid	57,894	69,778	65,493	-17.0%	-11.6%
Amount paid	$21,914,293	$25,851,912	$23,898,854	-15.2%	-8.3%