Statewide Iowa — Iowa’s unemployment rate dropped for the fourth straight month in December. Iowa Workforce Development Director, Beth Townsend, says more people are getting back into the workforce.
The rate dropped to three-point-five percent in December and Townsend says they want to continue to see it drop to the levels before the pandemic.
Townsend says some of the lost workers are those who decided it was time to retire once the pandemic hit.
She says that’s what IWD is focusing on those who aren’t yet ready to retire.
IWD recently started a new unemployment system where they pair up immediately with people looking for a job.
Townsend says recruiting new people into the state to fill the jobs is something they are also doing with help from the Iowa Economic Development Authority.
