By Dar Danielson (Radio Iowa)

There’s still hope that the remainder of the fall will bring heavier moisture than normal that can help cut back the ongoing drought in Iowa. DNR hydrologist Tim Hall says recent rains weren’t enough to make a big dent, but did erase the areas of D-4 or extreme drought.

“Areas of Benton and Tama County that were previously in the D-4classification saw enough rain to improve to D-3. But improvement to D-3 is still D-3,” he says. The D-3 designation is extreme drought compared to the D-4 exceptional drought designation. There is only a small sliver of the state that has no drought.

Hall says late fall has not been the best time to make up a moisture deficit, though there have been exceptions. “By the time we get to November, we see less than two inches of rain over the entire month. However, a couple years ago, we saw a very wet October, we’ve seen very wet fall months before,” Hall says. “So there’s certainly the opportunity to see noticeable and really helpful rainfall.”

He says warmer temperatures would help, as they keep the ground from freezing and shutting out water. “The first thing that happens when it rains is you get water into the soil matrix and you improve soil moisture. And after that, the water can move down into shallow groundwater. That all sort of comes to an end with the ground freeze up. You tend to get very rapid runoff in ground freeze up and not as much benefit,” Hall says.

The short -erm forecast has the potential for some rains in the coming week. “There could be widespread rain in the one to two inch rain across a lot of the state. So there’s there’s some optimism that between now and the end of the month we could see another inch plus of rain which would certainly be great,” he says. ” I mean at now, anything we get over about three quarters of an inch in a week is above normal. So we’d love to see that.”

Hall says any rain we get before the ground freezes is a bonus in helping build up of the groundwater that has been way behind for months.

DES MOINES, IOWA – Iowa’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate ticked up to 3.0 percent in September, up from 2.9 percent last month but down from 3.1 percent a year ago. Meanwhile, Iowa’s labor force participation rate decreased slightly from 68.7 percent to 68.6 percent in September as college students left the workforce to return to school.

The U.S. unemployment rate remained at 3.8 percent in September, and the national labor force participation rate remained at 62.8 percent.

The number of unemployed Iowans increased to 52,800 in September from 50,200 in August. The total number of working Iowans decreased to 1,688,200 last month. This figure is 4,200 lower than August but 22,000 higher than one year ago.

“National economic uncertainty continues to impact sectors like leisure and hospitality and professional and business services, but other industries are continuing to hire,” said Beth Townsend, Executive Director of Iowa Workforce Development. “If the warning signs turn out to be right, IWD will be well-positioned to match skilled workers with the employers who need them to grow. Through our Reemployment Case Management program, we have the right resources in the right place to help displaced workers find new careers as soon as possible.”

Seasonally Adjusted Nonfarm Employment

Iowa establishments shed 500 jobs in September, lowering total nonfarm employment to 1,585,200. Businesses in the state have been uneasy about hiring since April, and nonfarm employment has trended down, with job losses in four of the last five months. Jobs were gained in September mostly within goods production; however, gains were more than offset by private sector losses in leisure and hospitality along with professional and business services. Government also shed jobs in September at the local level (-200), yet remains up 2,600 compared to last year.

Among private industries, construction added 1,800 in September to lead all sectors. This gain was more than expected given that jobs had been pared in the prior four months. The monthly increase may be the result of construction firms rushing to wrap up projects before the colder weather arrives in the coming months. Jobs also were added in other services in September (+800). The largest movements were in religious, grantmaking, civic, and professional organizations. All other gains were smaller in nature – including manufacturing and information services, both of which added 200 jobs. Conversely, layoffs in arts, entertainment, and recreation fueled a drop of 1,100 in leisure and hospitality. Accommodations and food services increased slightly relative to August (+200). Professional and business services also shed jobs in September (-1,000). Administrative support and waste management industries pared 900 and was responsible for most of the loss. Financial activities posted the only other major loss this month (-800). Both credit intermediation and real estate rental and leasing shed 400 jobs.

Annually, Iowa has gained 11,400 jobs over the past 12 months. The largest increases have been in education and health care industries (+10,000). Most of the jobs gained were in health care and social assistance (+7,100). Despite the loss this month, leisure and hospitality is up 4,500 since last September thanks mostly to eating and drinking establishments bolstering payrolls. On the other hand, annual job losses were heaviest in professional and business services (-8,200). Losses for this sector have been driven by declines in employment services for individuals and business services for firms.