DES MOINES, IOWA – Iowa’s Labor Force Participation Rate rose to 67.0 percent in January, up from the 66.4 percent first announced for December, after growth and an annual revision of labor statistics added 31,000 people to the official estimate of Iowa’s workforce.
Even after the revision, January’s Labor Force Participation increased slightly from the revised December rate of 66.9 percent. Meanwhile, Iowa’s unemployment rate in January held steady with the revised December rate of 3.3 percent, while the U.S. unemployment rate decreased to 4.0 percent.
The total number of unemployed Iowans increased to 56,500, up 200 from revised December data. Meanwhile, the number of working Iowans rose by 2,700 to 1,664,100. The largest increases in the labor force came among women aged 45-54 and women 20-24.
“January’s report showed a large number of people entering Iowa’s labor force and immediately finding work,” said Beth Townsend, Executive Director of Iowa Workforce Development. “Despite recent layoffs in some industries, Iowa grew jobs in January, for the third month in a row, and absorbed more than 2,000 people who came back to the workforce in search of a new career. Growing labor force participation is a welcome improvement to see early in 2025; with more than 50,000 open jobs, we know employers need even more Iowans to return to the workforce.”
The last five years of monthly labor force data (2020-2024) recently were revised as required by the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. This “benchmarking” is the periodic process of re-estimating statistics as more complete data becomes available, such as updated data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Prior-year estimates for the Current Employment Statistics (CES) and Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) programs – key statistical measures of employment – are benchmarked annually. Revised data are incorporated in January employment statistics when they are released each March.
Seasonally Adjusted Nonfarm Employment
Iowa establishments added 1,400 jobs in January, raising total nonfarm employment to 1,594,200. This increase is the third consecutive for the state, with gains stemming from private education (+100) and health care (+600) industries. Government (a sector that includes federal, state, and local political subdivisions, as well as schools, universities, and public hospitals) grew largely because state universities retained more jobs than seasonally expected. Meanwhile, private industries shed 1,500 jobs between December and January and are now down 2,500 jobs annually.
Health care and social assistance added 600 jobs to lead all other sectors. This sector has gained jobs in four consecutive months and continues to trend up, at all-time highs for employment within this sector. Other gains were small and included leisure and hospitality and other services. Conversely, construction shed the most jobs in January (-800). This decline erases a gain of similar magnitude in December. Professional and business services are also down relative to December (-600). Half of those jobs shed were related to the management of companies and enterprises. Manufacturing lost 300 jobs in January. Most of these losses were within durable goods factories.
Total nonfarm employment is up 4,200 jobs over the last 12 months. Private service industries have gained 7,400 jobs thanks to hiring in education and health care (+4,700) and trade and transportation (+3,100). Annual losses were led by manufacturing (-7,100). Most of these losses were within durable goods production (-4,800). Construction is down 2,700 jobs since last year, and professional and business services has shed 2,300 jobs.