The seven-county region saw slight unemployment increases in December 2025, with one notable outlier in the data. According to statistics released today (Tuesday) by Iowa Workforce Development (IWD), the unemployment rate averaged 3.2 percent last month, 0.5 percentage points higher than in November and 0.4 points above levels a year ago. Carroll County led the way with the lowest unemployment at 2.4 percent, 0.1 points higher than November and 0.3 points higher than December 2024. Audubon County’s rate also rose by 0.1 points to 2.6 percent, compared to just 2.0 percent last year. Greene County climbed 0.2 points to 2.8 percent, also several points above 2024’s numbers. Calhoun County saw its jobless rate reach 3 percent, while Sac County rose to 3.1 percent, and Guthrie County to 3.3 percent. Crawford County recorded the region’s highest unemployment rate in December at 5.1 percent, a 1.7 point jump from month to month. Iowa’s unemployment rate held steady in December at 3.5 percent, while the national rate fell to 4.4 percent. Local unemployment figures are not seasonally adjusted. A link to IWD’s full dataset is included below.
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