(C) Iowa Capital Dispatch.
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Iowa unemployment rate falls slightly in September

['Katie Akin', 'More From Author', '- October']

Date: 2021-11


Iowa’s unemployment rate fell slightly in September, dropping from 4.1% to 4%.

Iowa Workforce Development Director Beth Townsend said the economy is “continuing its steady climb out of the pandemic.”

“More and more people are finding work, while the number of initial unemployment claims continues to fall … Going forward, it’s imperative that we do everything possible to ensure these positive trends continue,” Townsend said Friday in a statement.

Unemployment is still significantly higher than it was before the COVID-19 pandemic. In the fall of 2019, the unemployment rate was just 2.8%. There were 16,500 more Iowans on unemployment this September than there were in September 2019.

But Townsend said September had the second-lowest number of initial claims in 20 years — just over 7,000 people filed new claims for unemployment during the month.

The new unemployment numbers came days after Townsend and Gov. Kim Reynolds announced major changes to Iowa Workforce Development. In an effort to bring people back to the workforce, IWD will require claimants to apply for more jobs each week and to do weekly check-ins with the agency.

The state leaders emphasized that unemployment insurance should be a very short-term solution, and that the agency should help Iowans find another job as quickly as possible.

“Unemployment benefits were never intended to provide long-term support,” Townsend said.

Nationwide, people left the workforce in droves during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many have yet to return.

Iowa’s workforce participation rate is 66.8%. That’s lower than it was in September 2019, when 70.4% of the workforce was employed or actively seeking work.

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