Unemployment numbers fluctuated throughout the listening area from October to November, with some counties improving while others rising by nearly a half-point. Audubon County led the way with the lowest unemployment rate in November 2024 at 2.1 percent, even with October’s figures and from November 2023. Greene County was right behind at 2.3 percent, 0.2 points higher than last month and 0.4 points higher than a year ago. Carroll County held steady from October at 2.4 percent, but its unemployment figures are 0.3 points higher than last year. Sac County saw the largest month-to-month improvement, dropping from 2.7 percent in October to 2.5 percent in November. However, Sac’s rates are still 0.4 points higher than last year. Calhoun and Guthrie counties both recorded unemployment at 3.2 percent, a 0.3 and 0.2 point increase, respectively. Crawford County again had the highest unemployment rate in the seven-county region, rising 0.4 points to 3.9 percent, compared to 3.4 percent in November 2023. Iowa’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for November was 3.1 percent, while the national rate was 4.2 percent. A link to the complete Iowa Workforce Development dataset is included below.
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