Iowa unemployment rate ticks up to 2.6 percent

After three months at a consistent rate, unemployment in Iowa rose by one-tenth of a percentage point, to 2.6 percent, in October, Iowa Workforce Development said Tuesday.

The state's jobless rate held at 2.5 percent between July and September, and remained stagnant at 2.4 percent the previous year, since July 2018.

There were 1,703,400 working Iowans in October - an increase of 9,100 from September and 52,600 from October 2018, said Agency Director Beth Townsend in a news release.

Even so, she noted in a news release, 'Employers continue to face a shortage of skilled workers and there are currently over 60,000 job postings on www.IowaWorks.gov.”

'Future Ready Iowa and our partners, the community colleges, are well positioned to help address this shortage through their effort to award thousands of Last-Dollar scholarships in high-demand occupations,” Townsend said.

Iowa Workforce Development's latest data shows 900 more Iowans were jobless in October compared to September, as the number of unemployed workers increased from 44,200 to 45,100. That estimate is 5,100 higher than in October 2018.

The U.S. unemployment rate rose to 3.6 percent in October.

Iowa businesses experienced a net increase of zero new jobs from September, as 900 positions gained in government, professional and business services were offset by 900 lost among financial activities, construction, education, health and other services.

Iowans who have stopped looking for work or who otherwise have cycled out of the system are not counted among the unemployed.

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