Iowa Workforce has released the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for Iowa for the month of October.
The State’s jobless rate dropped to 2.4% compared to a year ago when it stood at 2.9%. Beth Townsend with Iowa Workforce Development says increases in manufacturing jobs and in construction sectors played a role in the lowest unemployment numbers since March of 2000.
A 2.4 percent unemployment rate in Iowa was first recorded nearly 19 years ago in December of 1999. The rate held there until March of 2000, making this October the fifth month since the Local Area Unemployment Statistics program began in 1976 that the rate recorded was this low.
The number of unemployed Iowans decreased to 41,200 in October from 41,800 in September. The current estimate is 8,000 lower than the year-ago level of 49,200.
The total number of working Iowans increased to 1,647,100 in October. This figure was 2,700 higher than September and 21,300 higher than one year ago.
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