January Unemployment Holds Steady

The U.S. Department of Labor is conducting its annual revision in labor numbers to start the new year. 

Iowa Workforce Development director Beth Townsend says that resulted in the December unemployment number dropping one tenth of a percent.

Townsend says the number of people looking for work also increased.

She says some areas saw good job growth in January.

Townsend says manufacturing added one-thousand jobs and non-durable goods and education and health services added 11-hundred jobs. She says there were some losses in seasonal industries.

Delaware County’s unemployment rate for January was four-point-five percent. Rates for our surrounding local counties include Linn at three-point-seven, Buchanan at three-point-nine, Dubuque at four-point-two, Jones and Fayette at four-point-seven and Clayton at five-point-eight.  

Townsend says the revised numbers for February will be out in a couple of weeks and give more information on how the Iowa economy is doing.

story and audio courtesy of Radio Iowa; image courtesy of U.S. Department of Labor