According to data released this (Tuesday) morning by Iowa Workforce Development, September unemployment rates for the seven-county region improved by nearly a half-point from August but remained at or above rates from a year ago. Sac County led the region with the lowest unemployment at 2.1 percent, 0.6 points improved from August and even with September 2022. Audubon and Greene Counties followed close behind at 2.2 percent, a 0.4 percent decrease from the prior month but still lagging behind last year’s data. Carroll County improved by 0.3 points from August to 2.3 percent but remains 0.6 points above a year ago. Guthrie, Calhoun, and Crawford Counties all saw their rates decrease by 0.4 points at 2.7, 2.8, and 3.9 percent respectively. However, their figures remain more than a half-point on average above last year. Unemployment for the seven-county region averaged 2.6 percent in September, 0.4 points improved from August but 0.4 points above September 2022. Iowa’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for September was 3.0 percent, compared to the national rate of 3.8 percent. A link to the full Iowa dataset is included below.
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