Iowa’s unemployment rate held steady at 3.3 percent in February, with modest job growth in private industries offset by losses in government employment. The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is up 0.5 points from 2.7 percent a year ago. February’s labor force participation rate remained at 67 percent. Nationally, unemployment rose to 4.1 percent in February from 4.0 percent the prior month. Iowa did see an increase in unemployed workers, rising to 57,300 from 56,600 in January, while the number of employed Iowans dropped by 600 to 1,663,600. Iowa Workforce Development Director Beth Townsend says, “February’s numbers remained steady, which indicated that we have sustained the large number of Iowans that returned to work between December and January. Overall, unemployment benefits still sit near a historic record low after adjusting for inflation. That means fewer Iowans need fewer weeks of benefits because of the steps we have taken to make our agency a reemployment agency. Having a robust reemployment program lessens the impact of layoffs on the individual, as well as our economy as a whole.” Total nonfarm employment declined by 1,100 jobs in February to 1,594,800, led by a loss of 3,400 government jobs. However, private sector employment grew by 2,300 jobs, with gains in health care, education, and manufacturing. Over the past year, health care added the most jobs, up 5,800, while manufacturing saw the largest decline, losing 7,600. A link to the latest data on Iowa’s labor market is included with this story on our website. Local figures are slated for release early next week.
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