Iowa Adds 3,400 April Jobs as Employment Falls 2,800 and Jobless Rate Holds at 3.3%
Updated
Updated · KGAN TV · May 21
Iowa Adds 3,400 April Jobs as Employment Falls 2,800 and Jobless Rate Holds at 3.3%
1 articles · Updated · KGAN TV · May 21
Iowa added 3,400 nonfarm jobs in April, but total employment still fell by 2,800 to 1.68 million while the unemployment rate stayed at 3.3%.
Leisure and hospitality drove the gains with 2,000 jobs, including 1,600 in accommodations and food services; private education added 600, and manufacturing rebounded with 400 after two monthly losses.
The labor force participation rate slipped to 67.5% from 67.7%, even as the number of unemployed Iowans fell to 57,200 from 58,100 and nearly 55,000 openings remained posted on IowaWORKS.gov.
Retail trade lost 1,400 jobs in April and professional and business services shed 500, underscoring broader weakness: Iowa has lost 15,100 jobs over the past year despite health care adding 4,300 and construction 2,300.
As Iowa adds thousands of new jobs, why is its total number of employed workers shrinking?
Iowa is investing $500 million in manufacturing, so why did the sector lose 3,800 jobs last year?