By O. Kay Henderson (Radio Iowa)

Iowa Realtors Association data shows the number of Iowa home sales in May jumped 17.3% compared to April.

Iowa Realtors President Erik Melloy says Iowa’s housing market was active and balanced in May. Homes were on the market for about 10 days, compared to 12 days in April. The median sales price for a home in May was $260,000. That’s 5.1% higher than April.

The number of pending home sales was up 4.1% in May compared to the same month a year ago. The Realtors report tracks the sale of Iowa condos and townhomes, too, and shows both a reduction in the median time on the market and an increase in the number of closed sales of condos and townhomes in May.

DES MOINES, IOWA – Iowa’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped to 3.2 percent in May, down from 3.3 percent in April and 3.6 percent one year ago. Meanwhile, the U.S. unemployment rate remained at 4.3 percent in May.

The total number of unemployed Iowans decreased to 56,100 in May from 57,200 in April.

The total number of working Iowans decreased to 1,676,100 in May. This figure is 1,800 lower than April and 1,600 higher than one year ago. Iowa’s labor force participation rate fell to 67.4 percent in May from 67.5 percent in April.

“With five months of 2026 data now available, the emerging trend is one of slow-but-steady growth in Iowa hiring,” said Beth Townsend, Executive Director of Iowa Workforce Development. “Employers across most Iowa industries are adding jobs on a regular basis even as unemployment insurance claims hover at near-record lows and the state’s Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund has a balance of more than $2.1 billion. At the same time, more than 57,000 unfilled jobs are posted on IowaWORKS.gov, so opportunity remains for anyone who’s looking to find a better position or embrace a new career.”

Seasonally Adjusted Nonfarm Employment

Businesses in Iowa added 3,400 jobs in May, lifting total nonfarm employment to 1,584,500 jobs. This is the third consecutive gain as the state has added 8,200 jobs since February. The primary driver of these job gains is private service industries. Goods-producing firms, primarily construction and manufacturing, have lost 400 jobs during that same time frame. Government has gained 800 jobs at the local level but is down 1,600 jobs compared to last year, while private industries trail by 10,000 jobs.

Retail trade added the most jobs in May (+1,700). This is the first sizable gain of the year for this sector and the result of hiring in several industries including outdoor power equipment dealers, supermarkets, hardware stores, and car dealers, among others. Professional, scientific, and technical firms gained 900 jobs. This is the first increase since June of last year for this sector. Durable goods manufacturing increased by 600 jobs. Foundries and metal product production helped fuel this growth. This gain, however, was offset partially by a loss of 400 jobs in nondurable goods factories. Firms involved in food production drove this loss. Nondurable goods shops have pared 1,500 jobs since January. Other services shed 500 jobs. This sector has not shown any marked trend over the past 12 months. Health care and social assistance decreased by 500 since April. Losses for this sector are unusual given the steady demand for services within health care industries. The only other losses were small in magnitude and were construction (-400) and administrative support and waste management (-400).

Annually, the state has shed 11,600 jobs since last May. Trade and transportation industries are down 6,100 jobs. Trade industries are responsible for 4,000 jobs shed, and transportation, warehousing, and utilities have lost 2,100 jobs. Manufacturing is down 3,800 jobs over the past 12 months. Factories involved with nondurable goods production have shed most of the jobs lost (-2,200). Conversely, health care and social assistance has added the most jobs annually despite minor losses over the past couple months (+3,200). Construction also experienced a small loss in May yet remains up 1,700 jobs. This sector had previously shown an upward trend since October of last year.

By O. Kay Henderson (Radio Iowa)

State Auditor Rob Sand says it appears the State of Iowa spent nearly $260 million this past school year to cover tuition costs for K-12 students who would have attended a private school without the state subsidy.

Sand, a Democrat running for governor, and current Republican Governor Kim Reynolds have sparred over access to information about Iowa’s Education Savings Account program. During a news conference late this morning, Sand said the report he released today is based on publicly-available data on spending and enrollment before and after the program launched three years ago. Sand said the data suggests only 21% of the students attended a private school rather than their local public school because of the tuition assistance.

“What that means is we can assume 8,800 students were enrolled in the program because the program existed,” Sand said.

According to Sand’s report, there’s been a 25% increase in the number of private schools in the past three years, while at the same time the number of private school closures has increased by about 45%. “So we are showing vastly more private schools close and open,” Sand said. “In fact, at least two of them have closed and opened within the same school year, which obviously creates instability for any students who are enrolled as well as their families.”

Sand told reporters it appears just one of the new private schools that have opened went through the state accredidation process. “Most of the new schools are relying instead on the independent accredidation agencies approved by the Board of Education,” Sand said.

Governor Reynolds, in a written statement, accused Sand of “chasing headlines” and called the report “politics, not real oversight.” The Iowa Department of Education has released a statement as well, saying “it is baffling” the report “does not pertain” to an audit but appears, instead, to be a policy critique of the ESA program.