Issued Tuesday, January 24, 2012
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Analysts at the nonpartisan Iowa Policy Project noted the unemployment rate held below 6 percent in December despite an increase in the number of Iowans looking for work. At the same time, nonfarm or payroll jobs dropped during the month. IPP, which tracks employment trends in Iowa, released this statement from Research Associate Noga O'Connor:

“The fact that the unemployment rate is holding below 6 percent is good news in Iowa's slow recovery, especially because more people were looking for work — and finding it.

“Our job performance, however, is anything but robust. While November turned out to be a little better than reported earlier, the December loss of 4,700 jobs erased the gains and dropped Iowa's monthly average gain to 1,100. That’s just not enough to sustain the kind of improvements we need to bite into the nearly 46,000-job deficit from mid-2008.

“The biggest drop over the last year is in public-sector jobs — 4,300. As we have noted, 1 out of every 6 jobs in Iowa is in government. It has an impact on other job sectors when one of that size is taking a hit. Iowa policy makers need to be sure they are not unnecessarily cutting these jobs, because it can hurt not only public services, but the economy as well.”


Source: Iowa Workforce Development, Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Key Numbers
— Nonfarm jobs were down in December by 4,700, to 1,482,400, from an upwardly revised November estimate, but 13,300 ahead of December 2010.
— Nonfarm jobs are 45,800 behind the May 2008 peak.
— The unemployment rate was 5.6 percent in December, down from 5.7 percent in November, and down from 6.1 percent a year earlier.
— The labor force, those working or looking for work, grew for the month by 2,200 but was down 16,600 over the year.
— Initial unemployment claims were up markedly — 58 percent, to 31,494 — for the month, but down 11 percent over the year.

Key Trends
— Iowa averaged an increase of only 1,100 jobs per month in 2011, its best pace in the last five years, but slow.
— Nonfarm jobs are above year-ago level for the 15th month in row.
— Manufacturing is the top-gaining job sector over the past 12 months, up 8,600, followed by education and health services at 5,200 and trade, transportation and utilities at 4,700. Construction jobs rose by 3,100 over the year despite a 900-job drop in December.
— Government jobs declined by 1,100 in December and 4,300 over the year. Financial activities lost 2,300 jobs for the year. Leisure and hospitality — the biggest losing category in December (2,500) — was relatively stable for the year, down 400 jobs.