Iowa jobless rate rose in July

DES MOINES — Iowa’s unemployment rate rose slightly last month, but state data issued Friday indicated the number of Iowans applying for jobless benefits was 32,200 lower than a year ago when the state was trying to shake off the early economic problems associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Iowa Workforce Development officials reported Friday the state's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate stood at 4.1 percent in July, up slightly from 4.0 one month earlier.

One year ago, joblessness in Iowa stood at 6.1 percent in July, which was an improvement from record lows of 11 percent in April and 10.2 percent in May when more than 173,000 Iowans were thrown out of work.

IWD officials said last month saw more Iowans re-entering the workforce or looking for work, which increased the total number of workers to 1,593,600 — which is 55,400 higher than July 2020 and 5,700 more than June.

In addition to 5,700 newly employed Iowans, the number of unemployed Iowans seeking work rose by 800, according to state data, resulting in Iowa’s labor force participation rate increasing from 66.6 percent in June to 66.9 percent.

“From May to July we saw an increase of 175 percent in the number of people visiting our IowaWORKS job centers to take active steps toward finding work, and that trend has continued in August,” IWD Director Beth Townsend said.

“As we’ve seen over the past few months, Iowans are re-entering the labor force in increasing numbers, and this shows that we continue to move in the right direction.”

Nationwide, unemployment stood at 5.4 percent last month, compared to 5.9 percent the previous month and 10.2 percent one year ago.

IWD data indicated total nonfarm employment in Iowa gained 7,400 jobs in July, increasing employment to 1,532,800 for the third consecutive monthly gain.

Service industries fueled much of the growth, with gains particularly strong in leisure and hospitality, according to the IWD monthly report. In addition, goods-producing industries gained 2,400 workers through robust hiring in manufacturing. Private sectors have added 37,400 jobs annually.

Accommodations and food services added the most jobs in July with a gain of 4,400 — marking the sector’s seventh-consecutive increase, for a total of 13,400 jobs added this year. That’s likely due to restaurants seeing more patrons, and more people traveling has boosted hotels.

Led by durable goods factories, manufacturing added 2,100 jobs in July and has now added jobs in the last three months.

Health care and social assistance increased by 1,200 — the first gain since December 2020.

Job losses were largest in professional and business services with 800 and fueled primarily by losses in temporary help services along with services to buildings and dwellings.

Iowa employers annually have added 46,100 jobs to their payrolls. Leisure and hospitality has increased the most with 16,300, followed by manufacturing with 10,000.

Retail trade is up 4,500 compared to last July. Sectors seeing little growth over the past 12 months include transportation and warehousing, which was down 800, health care and social assistance, also down 800, and information with 300 job losses.

Overall, there were 67,400 Iowans who were unemployed in July, down 800 from the previous month and 32,200 from the July 2020 total of 99,600 idled Iowans.

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