Iowa lost 5,800 jobs in April; more than half were in construction
BUSINESS RECORD STAFF May 21, 2021 | 7:37 pm
1 min read time
183 wordsAll Latest News, Economic Development, Government Policy and LawIowa companies shed 5,800 jobs in April, dropping the state’s total seasonally adjusted nonfarm employment to 1.51 million, new data from the Iowa Workforce Development shows.
In March, the state had 1.52 million nonfarm-related jobs; in April 2020, it had 1.41 million.
The state data shows that more than half of the jobs lost in April were in construction. In March, Iowa recorded 79,500 construction jobs; that fell to 76,400 jobs in April, according to the state report. Iowa also recorded 2,500 fewer jobs in the area of trade, transportation and utilities – 306,800 in March and 304,300 in April.
Since January, Iowa has added 4,900 jobs in the leisure and hospitality industry, state data shows. Overall, the state has 123,000 people employed in leisure and hospitality, 4% more than the 118,100 who worked in the industry in January.
The state reported that Iowa’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in April was 3.8%, up slightly from 3.7% in March. A year ago, Iowa’s April jobless rate was 11.1%.
The U.S. unemployment rate in April was 6.1%, a slight increase from March’s rate of 6%.