Corridor jobless rates dip in November

Unemployment rates fell last month in Cedar Rapids and Iowa City as the number of nonfarm jobs increased at each end of the Corridor.

Cedar Rapids

Iowa Workforce Development on Tuesday said the jobless rate in Cedar Rapids dropped to 3.1 percent last month, from 3.5 percent in October. The Cedar Rapids metropolitan statistical area added 400 nonfarm jobs to end November at 146,300.

Total nonfarm employment in the metro area is 1,300 above November 2015.

Trade, transportation and warehousing added 300 jobs, aided by a small seasonal increase of 200 in retail trade. Educational and health services added 200 jobs, while leisure and hospitality recorded an anticipated seasonal decline of 100.

Manufacturing gained 100 jobs - all in nondurable goods - and natural resources and construction lost 100 jobs as colder weather set in.

Professional and business services have added 700 jobs from November 2015 to lead all sectors. Information, on the other hand, has shed 200 jobs from a year ago, and manufacturing and government have each pared 100 jobs.

Although the number of unemployed residents fell from 5,100 in October to 4,400 last month, the total workforce in the Cedar Rapids MSA also declined to 145,100 in November from 146,400 the previous month. Total employment also fell from 141,300 in October to 140,700 in November.

Iowa City

The unemployment rate in the Iowa City MSA dipped to 2.1 percent in November from 2.6 percent the previous month. Nonfarm employment rose by 100 jobs to end November at 102,900.

Government added 300 jobs in the Iowa City MSA last month, with a gain of 400 in local government offset by a loss of 100 jobs in state government. Trade, transportation and warehousing reduced payrolls by 200 jobs, and goods producing manufacturers dropped 100 jobs.

The Iowa City MSA has added 2,100 jobs from November 2015, with gains in nearly every sector. The only exceptions are trade, transportation and warehousing, which has lost 300 positions, and professional and business services where total employment is unchanged.

The number of unemployed residents in the Iowa City MSA fell from 2,600 in October to 2,100 last month, and the total workforce also declined to 98,800 in November from 99,900 the previous month. Total employment fell from 97,300 in October to 96,700 in November.

Iowa

Iowa's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 3.8 percent in November, from 4.1 percent in October. While the jobless rate declined, the state shed another 4,700 jobs in November - the third straight month for job losses.

'This is the first time in six years that we have seen three straight months of job losses,” said Mike Owen, executive director of the Iowa Policy Project, a not-for-profit research organization in Iowa City.

'As we prepare to close the books on 2016, we can see it has been a bleak year for job growth in Iowa. These preliminary numbers for November are only 6,200 ahead of where we stood at the start of the year.”

l Comments: (319) 398-8366; george.ford@thegazette.com