Iowa jobless rate rises in October

Iowa's employment picture improved little in October, as the unemployment rate rose to the 6.7 percent level it had hit for the first time in 26 years in August.

“Significant economic obstacles lie ahead for the state, and the October jobs report offered further evidence the Iowa

economy continues to be challenged,” Iowa Workforce Development Director Elisabeth Buck said.

The 6.7 percent October unemployment rate was the same as the preliminary unemployment rate for September, which has since been revised to 6.6 percent.

The total number of working Iowans fell to 1,573,400 in October. That was 6,200 fewer than the previous month's level of 1,579,600, and 31,500 fewer than the October 2008 level.

The service sector showed signs of life, adding 2,300 jobs. A modest gain of 500 in manufacturing employment was offset by the loss of an equivalent number of jobs in construction, however.

With the approach of the crucial holiday shopping season, employment in the trade and transportation sector that includes retail workers is down 4,800 from October 2008.

Iowa's unemployment rate was the eighth-lowest in the nation. It remained well below the national unemployment rate of 10.2 percent.

Education and health care were the strongest job-producing sectors of Iowa's economy in October. They added a total of 2,000 jobs. Most of the jobs - 1,300 - were in health care.

The total number of non-farm jobs was up 2,300 from September in Iowa.

Christine Ralston, a research associate for the Iowa Policy Project in Iowa City, said that the 2,300-job increase still represents a slow pace of job creation. If that trend continues, Ralston said, it would take Iowa 12 months just to regain two-thirds of the jobs lost in the past year.

“We have a long climb ahead of us,” Ralston said.