Statewide Iowa — Iowa’s unemployment rate dropped down to two-point-six percent in July. Iowa Workforce Development spokesman, Cory Kelly, says that’s down from two-point-seven percent in June.
Kelly says it is hard to tell if the rate has hit as low as it can go.
The number of working Iowans is estimated to have increased by 52-hundred in July. Manufacturing led the way in new jobs.
The construction industry had a small gain of 300 jobs — but is was the sixth consecutive month the industry added jobs. The negative side of the job market is in retail.
Kelly says retail has been trending down in jobs since the start of the year as store closings were announced across the state.
The state unemployment rate in July of last year was three-point-one percent. The U.S. unemployment rate was three-point-nine percent in July.
