Iowa’s unemployment rate held steady in June at 2.8%, unchanged since April, but the number of workers in Iowa’s labor force continued to decline, according to Iowa Workforce Development’s latest jobs report released Thursday.

The state labor force participation rate decreased to 66.5% in June from 66.7% in May, which the state agency attributed to an increased number of retirements. The total number of working Iowans fell to 1,641,400 last month, the report shows. That is 3,200 workers lower than May and 21,400 lower than one year ago.

The size of the state’s labor pool has fallen each month since December. This trend is in line with the concerns of many Iowa business and corporate leaders that workforce attraction and retention remain key economic challenges in the state.

The number of unemployed Iowans decreased to 46,600 from 46,900 in May. Iowa’s unemployment rate remained below the national average, which increased to 4.1% in June.

“Despite ongoing economic challenges, Iowa’s workforce held steady during June as private industries advanced by 1,500 jobs,” Beth Townsend, executive director of Iowa Workforce Development, said in the release. “Iowa’s economy has shown great resilience and employers continue to hire. IowaWORKS.gov includes over 58,000 open jobs and our team is ready to help Iowans find their next new opportunity.”

Iowa’s manufacturing sector saw the most losses, which Iowa Workforce Development said in the release led to a small drop in goods-producing industries.

“Overall, private industries advanced by 1,500 jobs in June. This gain was contrasted by a drop of 1,200 in government, which was related to the expected employment changes from schools breaking for the summer,” the release says.

June’s largest gain was in health care and social assistance. The sector was up 1,800 jobs in the report and has grown by 3,900 jobs over the past three months. Professional and business services also added jobs in June, up 1,100 positions. Scientific and technical services fueled most of these gains, up 700, the report says. Administrative support and waste management services also showed signs of hiring, up 300.

Since last June, Iowa employers have added 20,900 jobs, with health care and social assistance gaining the most during that stretch, up 7,100 positions.