Unemployment Rate Up For First Time In 12 Months

Statewide Iowa — (RI) — Iowa Workforce Development is reporting something it hasn’t had to report in a long time — the unemployment rated went up in July.

IWD Deputy director Ryan West says it was a small increase.

West says one side of the numbers slightly outweighed the other in figuring the rate for July.

The number of unemployed Iowans increased by 14-hundred to 42-thousand-800 — while the number of working Iowans increased by four-thousand. He says there are a lot of factors involved in seeing some people without a job while there are so many job openings in the state.

The business sector added jobs in July along with construction.

The financial activities sector saw a loss of 18-hundred jobs and has seen loses throughout this year. The workforce report says the information sector continues to adjust to changing technologies and is down 14-hundred jobs. West says it is hard to say if the unemployment level has bottomed out.

West says efforts continue to retrain people to fit them into the jobs that are available, as well as getting some workers back into the mix.

The US unemployment rate remained at three-point-seven percent in July.

KIWA Archive Photo

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