Unemployment figures from the seven-county region shrunk from last year and the prior month for December 2023. Greene County led the way with the lowest rate in the area at 1.7 percent, 0.4 points lower than November 2023 and 0.3 points lower than last December. Carroll County followed close behind at 1.8 percent, down 0.5 points from last month and only 0.1 points lower than 2022. Audubon and Sac Counties both came in at 2.0 percent. Sac improved by 0.4 points from November to December and 2022 to 2023. Calhoun saw a 0.5-point decrease on the month and was 0.3 points improved from last year. Guthrie County improved from 2.8 percent to 2.7 percent, compared to the 2.9 percent rate they recorded last year. Crawford County was an outlier in December’s figures, with a 5.6 percent unemployment rate, compared to 3.7 percent in November 2023. However, Crawford remains below its high of 6.6 percent, which was set in January 2023. The average unemployment rate for the seven-county region stood at 2.6 percent for December, about 0.1 points lower than November and 0.2 points improved from 2022. Statewide, unemployment measured 3.2 percent, while nationwide figures measured 3.7 percent. A link to the Iowa Workforce Development data is included with this story on our website.
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https://workforce.iowa.gov/labor-market-information/indicators/local/data
