Ames, IA- An Iowa State University Economist says that Iowa is in a recession.
Radio Iowa reports that Iowa State University economist Peter Orazem says, while there have been gains, the number of Iowans who are working continues to lag behind pre-pandemic levels.
“If you look at Iowans under the age of 45, labor force participation rates actually went up. It’s Iowans over 45 where labor force participation rates went down and they really went down for people over 55,” Orazem says. “…We don’t think that they’re coming back and so that’s going to be holding back the Iowa economy in terms of its ability to make up for for its lost labor.”
Iowa had one of the oldest workforces in the US prior to the pandemic and, according to Orazem, many who retired during the pandemic are not coming back.
“We’re lagging the rest of the U.S. in terms of recovery of employment and that’s holding back, actually, the Iowa economy,” Orazem says.”
Iowa Workforce Development had previously announced that the state had added back all of the jobs that have been lost during the pandemic. Orazem says the total number of Iowans employed still remains about 1% below pre-pandemic levels, and the labor participation rate is about 2% below what it was in February of 2020.
“We’ve had three straight quarters of negative Gross State Product, which would meet the classic definition of a recession,” Orazem said.
Orazem made his comments during a weekend appearance on “Iowa Press” on Iowa PBS.
