Corridor unemployment rate falls

The Cedar Rapids and Iowa City metro unemployment rates fell in October, as the service and government sectors generated jobs.

Cedar Rapids' unemployment rate of 5.9 percent in October was down 0.4 percent from September, yet remained 2.1 percentage points higher than a year earlier, Iowa Workforce Development reported.

The Cedar Rapids Metropolitan Statistical Area gained 700 jobs in government, 400 jobs in education and health and 700 jobs in the service producing sector.

Job losses, at 200 each, were the most concentrated in the goods-producing and trade/transportation sectors.

Cedar Rapids had the second-highest unemployment rate of any MSA in the state.

The highest was in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls MSA, which shot up to 8 percent from 5.6 percent in September.

The Iowa City metro area unemployment rate of 4 percent was down from 4.4 percent in September, yet remained 1 percentage point higher than a year earlier.

The Iowa City Metropolitan Statistical Area gained 700 government jobs, and 400 jobs in the service sector. Job losses were spread across three sectors. The goods producing, leisure-hospitality and accomodation-food sectors each lost 100 jobs.

The local unemployment rates are not seasonally adjusted.