Northwest Iowa — The four northwest Iowa counties in our primary coverage area remain in the top 10 for lowest unemployment in the state, and three of the counties are ranked first, second, and third.
The May, 2017 county-by-county unemployment rates were just released, and Lyon County again has the lowest (non-seasonally-adjusted) unemployment rate in the state, at just 1.5 percent, unchanged from April. Sioux County is second, with 1.7 percent, also unchanged from April. Osceola and Story counties are tied for third at 1.9 percent unemployment. Osceola is unchanged from April. A little further down the list, rounding out the top 10 at number 10 is O’Brien County with just 2.2 percent unemployment, up a tenth of a percent from the April figure of 2.1 percent.
Lee County, in the opposite corner of the state, had the highest unemployment in May, at 5.1 percent.
Statewide, the employment rate stayed the same, but the state did add some jobs, according to Iowa Workforce Development Communications Director Cory Kelly.
He says the good news continues for Iowa.
Kelly says that hiring in trade, health care, and manufacturing establishments helped keep the state growing.
He says that while the state added jobs and the unemployment rate stayed the same, more people were unemployed in May than in April.
Kelly says that you can visit www.iowalmi.gov for more information about current and historical data, labor force data, nonfarm employment, hours and earnings, and jobless benefits by county.
