Iowa’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in February was 2.9%, down slightly from January’s rate of 3%, Iowa Workforce Development reported today.

Also in February, Iowa’s labor force participation rate slipped to 67.2%, the third consecutive month the rate has declined. In December, the state’s labor participation rate was 67.5%; in January, it was 67.3%. In February 2023, the labor participation rate was 68%. (The U.S. labor participation rate in February 2024 was 62.5%.)

Beth Townsend, Iowa Workforce Development’s executive director, attributed the decline in labor participation to young Iowans leaving the workforce for education.

“Iowa businesses added jobs in nearly every major industry [in February], from construction and manufacturing to health care and accommodation and food services,” Townsend said in a prepared statement. “At the same time, we also saw a slight decline in the overall workforce, with most who left saying they were doing so to attend classes.”

Since January 2023, Iowa’s labor force has shrunk by 11,000 people, from 1,711,900 to 1,700,900 in February 2024, agency data shows. In January 2020, two months prior to the start of the pandemic, Iowa had 1,737,000 people in its workforce, data shows.

Iowa businesses added 11,000 jobs in February, the most since February 2022, when 10,500 jobs were added, data shows. Among the sectors adding jobs were accommodations and food services, with 4,200 new positions. “Jobs gained stemmed from eating and drinking establishments, especially within limited-service restaurants along with snack and nonalcoholic beverage bars,” according to the news release.

Other sectors that added jobs were education and health services (2,400), professional and business services (1,600) and construction (1,100).

The U.S. unemployment rate in February was 3.9%, up from 3.7% in January.