Iowa’s unemployment rate in February remained at 3.4%, the same as it was in January and December, new data from Iowa Workforce Development shows.

Also in February, Iowa employers shed 4,400 jobs from their payrolls, lowering total non-farm employment to 1,576,400. In the past 12 months, Iowa’s total non-farm employment has shrunk by 19,200 workers from 1,595,600.

Both private education services and professional and business services lost 1,400 jobs in February, the highest among all of the sectors that are monitored, the state report shows. Other job losses were in government (down 1,100); trade, transportation and utilities (down 1,000); and manufacturing (down 500).

Sectors that added jobs in February include construction (700) and leisure and hospitality (600).

“February’s report contains a few bright spots as well as evidence of some general tightening in sections of Iowa’s economy,” Beth Townsend, the agency’s executive director, said in a prepared statement.

Iowa’s labor participation rate in February was 67.8%, down slightly from January’s rate of 67.9%.  

The U.S. unemployment rate in February was 4.4%.

The full February jobs report release is available online. 

UnityPoint Health layoffs

Just over 90% of the 207 information technology jobs being eliminated by UnityPoint Health this summer are located in Iowa, Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notices show. 

Last week, UnityPoint Health announced it planned to outsource portions of its IT and billing and payment operations to third-party operators. UnityPoint Health, which operates clinics and hospitals in Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin, did not provide a breakdown of where the jobs were located in the announcement. 

A review of WARN notices shows that 97 of the jobs being eliminated are in Hiawatha and 84 are in Des Moines. The other jobs being eliminated are in Cedar Rapids, Fort Dodge, Marshalltown, Dubuque, Sioux City, Waterloo and Grimes.

The layoffs are expected to occur on July 24, according to the WARN notices.