April’s unemployment figures for the region trended lower in six of the seven counties in the Carroll Broadcasting listening area, according to data released this (Tuesday) morning by Iowa Workforce Development (IWD). Carroll County led the area with the lowest unemployment at 2.4 percent, 0.3 points below the previous month’s rate but still 0.8 points higher than last April. Audubon County improved to 2.6 percent from 3.2 percent in March but remains 0.9 points above a year ago. Calhoun County came in with unemployment at 2.9 percent, a half-point below March. Guthrie County recorded a significant month-to-month swing, dropping from 4.0 percent in March to 3.0 percent in April. Sac County’s unemployment dropped 0.7 points from March to April. Greene County recorded the only increase in unemployment for the region, rising to 3.4 percent from 3.2 percent. Greene also recorded the highest annual growth, with unemployment 1.6 percentage points higher than a year ago. Crawford County again recorded the highest unemployment for the region at 4.2 percent, notching a 1.2-point improvement from March. Across the region, unemployment averaged 3.1 percent, nearly a whole point higher than last year. A link to the complete IWD dataset is included below.
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