The number of Iowans who filed unemployment claims last week fell 3.4% to 29,842, data from Iowa Workforce Development shows. The number of unemployed Iowans is at its lowest level since the week ending Dec. 21, 2019, when a total of 29,476 claims were filed. The state agency also reported that $7.3 million in jobless benefits was paid out of Iowa’s unemployment compensation trust fund. Since mid-March 2020, $1.3 billion has been paid from the fund. The U.S. Department of Labor this week reported that 473,000 initial unemployment claims were filed nationally during the week that ended on Saturday. It was a decrease of 34,000 from the previous week. In addition, the number of initial claims filed nationally was the lowest since March 14, 2020, the department reported.