Iowa’s unemployment rate for December held steady at 3.1 percent, according to a report released Friday by Iowa Workforce Development (IWD). IWD Director Beth Townsend says, “Iowa ended 2022 in a much stronger position than where we were a year ago. Individual industries certainly continue to feel shocks from high inflation and the ripples of a difficult business cycle. But overall, Iowa is now much stronger heading into 2023. Moving forward, IWD’s focus will be on continuing our momentum by connecting Iowans to the new jobs created in health care, business services, and other growing sectors.” Employers added an estimated 2,400 jobs in December, ending 2022 with over 34,000 more positions on payroll than in December 2021. The state’s labor participation rate did fall slightly to close out the year, from 67.7 percent in November to 67.6 percent in December. Iowa’s December unemployment rate was nearly a half-point below the national rate of 3.5 percent. IWD is scheduled to release county-by-county figures tomorrow (Tuesday) morning.
