Des Moines, Iowa — The number of Iowa unemployment claims continues to drop.
The number of ongoing unemployment claims dropped by 11-thousand-463 last week and overall those claims fell below 100-thousand for the first time since April 11th. The ongoing claims are at 92-thousand-853. First-time unemployment claims fell by more than one-thousand and are at their lowest level since the coronavirus pandemic hit.
Unemployment insurance benefit payments totaled about $27 million for the week of Aug. 2-8. The most claims were in Manufacturing (1,132), Industry Not Available – Self-employed, Independent Contractors, etc. (539), Health Care & Social Assistance (514), Retail (421), Accommodation & Food Services (373)
The latest statewide unemployment rate available is for the month of June, when the state was at 8.0 percent unemployment. As usual, the numbers are much better in northwest Iowa, but are still high for this part of the state. Lyon county’s unemployment for June was high for Lyon County but was the lowest in the state at just 3.2 percent. Sioux County was second-lowest in the state at 3.8 percent, and Osceola County was third with 4.6 percent. O’Brien County had the sixth-lowest unemployment in the state for June at 4.9 percent. For comparison sake, there were counties in the state in June with unemployment as high as 10 and 11 percent.
Iowa Workforce Development says employers are now required to notify their employees about Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits in accordance with Iowa law. The requirement ensures that workers are aware of the benefits they may be eligible for if they become unemployed or experience a reduction in hours.
Employees and employers who have questions regarding returning to work should review the Frequently Asked Questions for each group on the Iowa Workforce Development website. Assistance for employers can be found here: https://www.
