Unemployment Rates Up in Delaware and Surrounding Counties

Unemployment rates were up in January for northeast Iowa, but the state’s overall numbers showed an increase in workers.

The U.S. Labor Department conducted its annual revision of labor numbers and found there were 31-thousand more people in the Iowa labor force in January. Iowa Workforce Development director Beth Townsend says that’s a big increase.

Townsend says they’ve been working for some time to get that rate back up.

Townsend says a good sign was the increase in women aged 45 to 54 in the workforce.

With the revised numbers, the January unemployment rate held at the revised December level of three-point-three percent.

Meanwhile, unemployment rates were up for Delaware County in January – at 4.4 percent compared to December’s 2.7 percent. Unemployment rates were also up in surrounding counties, including a jump from 3.1 percent to 4.2 in Buchanan County, 4 percent to 5.9 in Clayton County, 3.4 percent to 4.1 in Dubuque County, 3.2 percent to 4.7 in Fayette County, 3.6 percent to 5.2 in Jones County and 3.2 percent to 4.1 in Linn County.

story courtesy of Radio Iowa