According to a jobs report from Western Iowa Advantage, unemployment in the region dropped nearly three-quarters of a percent compared to a year ago. In April 2016, 3.6 percent of eligible workers in the area were unemployed. Western Iowa Advantage monitors eight separate counties and all included in the report saw reductions. Adair County dropped to 2.6 percent from 2.9 percent. Audubon remained relatively stable with a tenth of a percent drop from three percent. In Carroll County, unemployment dropped to two percent from 2.5. Crawford County saw the biggest improvements, moving to 4.1 percent from 5.6 percent. Greene County improved to 2.7 percent from 3.7 percent. Unemployment in Guthrie and Ida Counties both saw improvements of 0.4 percent from 3.5 and 2.4 respectively. Sac County saw moderate improvements of 0.2 percent to 2.5 percent from 2.7 percent. Iowa’s unemployment in April 2017 was 3.1 percent. U.S. unemployment was 4.4 percent.
