Iowa’s unemployment rate falls to 2.8 percent
BUSINESS RECORD STAFF Apr 20, 2018 | 9:10 pm
1 min read time
179 wordsAll Latest News, Economic DevelopmentIowa’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped to 2.8 percent in March from 2.9 percent in February. It was 3.3 percent year ago. The U.S. rate stayed at 4.1 percent in March.
“Iowa’s economy continued to show overall gains in job growth with a drop in the unemployment rate in March to 2.8 percent,” said Beth Townsend, Iowa Workforce Development director. “Iowa has added a net of 10,600 jobs since last March including manufacturing jobs that increased by 10,400 alone. Iowa currently has 224,200 manufacturing jobs and the number is trending upward.”
The number of unemployed Iowans decreased to 47,300 in March from 47,900 in February. The current estimate is 8,200 lower than the year-ago level of 55,500.
A total of 1,626,100 Iowans worked in March, up 500 from February and 300 from a year ago.
Iowa businesses eliminated 600 jobs in March, with total nonfarm employment falling to 1,582,100 jobs. The jobs were lost in private services. Goods-producing industries added jobs for the second straight month.
Construction businesses gained more than any other sector at 1,300.