Iowa businesses added 2,900 jobs in March, raising the state’s total nonfarm employment to nearly 1.6 million workers, Iowa Workforce Development reported today.

Sectors that experienced increased employment were education and health services (up 1,500 jobs); manufacturing (up 700 jobs); and financial activities (up 600 jobs).

In January, Iowa’s labor force participation rate was 68.2%, up slightly from February’s rate of 68.1%. Also, 48,300 Iowans were unemployed in March, a decrease from February when there were 50,100 unemployed Iowans. Iowa reported an unemployment rate in March of 2.8%; February’s unemployment rate was 2.9%.

The U.S. unemployment rate in March was 3.5%.