New unemployment claims in Iowa remain stagnant

Iowa had almost exactly the same number of new unemployment claims in the week ending May 29 as the previous week, according to data posted by Iowa Workforce Development Thursday.

New claims slid from 3,861 to 3,859, a difference of two claims.

Iowa reported an increase in continuing claims, though, which rose from 25,255 to 26,737.

Manufacturing was the largest source of new claims with 578, followed by construction with 563, and self-employed and independent contractors with 429. No other sector had more than 250 new claims.

Both Linn and Johnson counties saw decreases in new claims, according to IWD data.

The 3,859 new claims and 26,737 continuing claims last week offered a stark contrast the numbers at this time in 2020.

In the week ending May 30, 2020, Iowa had 5,966 new claims and 153,018 continuing claims.

These numbers are preliminary and are yet to be adjusted by the U.S. Department of Labor. They also only include people actively seeking work and therefore do not necessarily give a full picture of how many Iowans are out of work.

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