Iowa employers added 6,400 jobs in January, led by hiring in professional and business services, new data from Iowa Workforce Development shows.

Even with the gains, Iowa’s total nonfarm employment has yet to rebound to its January 2025 level of 1,599,700, state data shows. In January 2026, the state’s total nonfarm employment was 1,584,400.

In the past year, the state’s employers have shed 15,300 jobs including 6,900 in trade, transportation and utilities and 6,100 in leisure and hospitality. 

Manufacturing, which in Iowa has been affected by the downturn in the agricultural economy, has lost 4,200 jobs in the past year. However, some of those losses were recouped with the addition of 1,000 jobs, boosting employment in the sector to 215,100, state data shows.

Other sectors that added jobs in January include professional and business services (1,800) and construction (1,300).

Iowa’s labor participation rate in January was 67.9%, the same as it was in December. The state’s unemployment rate in January, was 3.4%, also the same as it was in December. 

(Data previously released for December was revised as part of an annual revision of labor statistics. In addition, monthly labor force data released in 2021 through December 2025 has been revised as required by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. The “benchmarking” is done periodically as more complete data becomes available.)

The U.S. unemployment rate in January was 4.3%.

The full January jobs report release is available online.