Washington County unemployment plummets to 5% in April

Washington County's unemployment rate fell by 1.2% to 5.0% in April, 2011. Washington County shrugged off the winter seasonal employment jump when 100 people went back to work.

Washington County's labor force was steady at 12,000, and the number of employed persons grew to 11,400. This is a 300 person increase from this past winter.

Of the estimated 600 Washington County unemployed persons, 292 were drawing Unemployment Insurance benefits (down from 358 in January).  For 35 of those receiving Unemployment benefits, their last payment occurred in April, while 48 received their first Unemployment benefit payment.

The State of Iowa's unemployment rate fell slightly from 6.1% in March to 6.0% in April . Looking further, the number of unemployed persons in Iowa decreased by about 500, while the number of employed persons rose by 2,300; a good trend.  The national unemployment rose to 9.0% in April, from 8.8% in March.

State and County data is from the Labor Market and Economic Research Bureau of the Iowa Workforce Development. ?

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