DES MOINES, IOWA – Iowa’s unemployment rate was 3.0 percent in January, down from the 3.1 percent initially announced in December. Meanwhile, the U.S. unemployment rate decreased to 3.4 percent. Iowa’s December unemployment rate was also revised to 3.0 percent.

The total number of unemployed Iowans fell to 51,100 in January, down 1,200 from revised December data. The total number of working Iowans decreased by 500 to 1,669,900, although it remains 10,800 above January 2022.

An increase of 8,300 jobs to start the year helped Iowa achieve a 68.1 percent labor force participation rate in January. The labor force participation rate was down slightly from a revised December rate of 68.2 percent, but up from the previously announced labor force participation rate of 67.6 percent and remains near the highest level Iowa has seen since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The significant increases in both the number of Iowans with jobs and the number of people rejoining the labor force are very positive signs,” said Beth Townsend, Director of Iowa Workforce Development. “Iowa has worked hard over the last year to make it easier to connect Iowans with open jobs, including adding one-on-one assistance through our Reemployment Case Management program from the first week of unemployment. Decreasing the amount of time between jobs helps working Iowans and our employers who are looking for hardworking new employees. This is the engine that helps fuel our economy.”

The last five years of monthly labor force data (2018-2022) recently were revised as part of a required review by the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. This “benchmarking” is the annual 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’s establishments added 8,300 jobs to begin the year, raising total nonfarm employment to an all-time high of 1,591,300 jobs. This monthly gain is sizable and largely the result of goods-producing industries bolstering staffing levels in January. Combined, goods-producers added 5,400 jobs and private service industries advanced by 2,300 jobs. Government increased slightly (+600) thanks to hiring in state government education.

Construction added the most jobs in January (+3,900), a sizable increase that may evidence that workers in this industry are increasingly working later into the year. The increase pushed construction to its highest-so-far employment level in Iowa at 86,200 jobs. Manufacturing rose again in January (+1,400). Gains were generally within nondurable goods shops and concentrated within food manufacturing and animal slaughtering and processing. Other increases included health care and social assistance (+1,300). Alternatively, job losses were smaller in magnitude and concentrated in administrative support and waste management (-900).

Annually, Iowa firms have added 38,200 jobs to their payrolls over the past twelve months. Substantial gains have been in leisure and hospitality (+8,400) as more firms return to pre-COVID operating levels. Private education has also grown substantially over the past twelve months (+6,000) as most institutions are back to in-person learning in some capacity. Other gains included construction (+5,900) and health care and social assistance (+5,700).  Those sectors showing weakness since last year include administrative support and waste management (-2,200) and transportation, warehousing, and utilities (-1,000).

By Dar Danielson (Radio Iowa)

The latest report on the 19 state-regulated casinos shows their economic impact on the state once again tops one billion dollars. Racing and Gaming administrator Brian Ohorilko says that includes all the money spent by the facilities.

“It is payroll, it’s employees coming from Iowa, it’s goods and services being supplied by Iowans. Obviously, it’s taxes that are being paid in stay in the state, and then additional charitable contributions that are made by the casinos,” Ohorilko says. “And that’s separate from those contributions made by the by the licensed nonprofit partners.” He says nearly 92 percent of spending by casinos is with Iowa companies.

“And what’s even more impressive is when you factor out some of the items that cannot be purchased inside the state of Iowa,” he says. “Things such as advertising that may be on the borders and other states, or entertainment, or even slot machines and some of the gaming equipment — then that number increases to 96.8 percent of spending is being conducted in Iowa.” Ohorilko says the economic impact is something that can get overlooked.

“That one billion number has been fairly consistent for the past several years — the one exception was during the COVID year — but that has become something that we have routinely seen,” Ohorilko says.

The report shows an economic impact of $1.077 billion dollars in the last fiscal year.

DES MOINES — The Iowa Department of Natural Resources has finalized a drought plan for use by local, county, state agencies and governments in the event of droughts in the state.

The Iowa Drought Plan was developed in partnership with the Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management and the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship. The plan aims to provide the state with an approach to prepare for, identify, respond to and recover from a drought.

“Just as we must be prepared for floods, tornadoes, and winter storms, we also must be prepared for the impacts of drought in Iowa,” said John Benson, director of the Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. “The Iowa Drought Plan, the result of a collaboration between state agencies and a broad range of stakeholders throughout Iowa, is the blueprint we will use to ensure the state is able to address the challenges of drought preparedness, response and recovery.”

Droughts pose serious challenges to Iowa and many of its industries including agriculture and manufacturing, threatening the health of its residents and the state’s environment and economy. The Iowa Drought Plan will provide statewide drought condition evaluations and will give stakeholders and the public information on risk assessment and mitigation measures.

“This plan should provide a way to better communicate drought conditions to Iowans and allow for a consistent response across our state by multiple agencies,” said DNR Hydrology Resources Coordinator Tim Hall.

The plan designates five drought regions for the state, since different areas of the state vary in drought vulnerability due to groundwater resources and rainfall totals. Each region’s condition will be evaluated using four drought categories: Normal, drought watch, drought warning or drought emergency. Drought levels will be determined based on precipitation, the Standardized Precipitation Index, which is based on accumulated rainfall over time, the U.S. Drought Monitor and a standardized streamflow index, which compares current streamflow to the historical record.

“After three years of widespread drought conditions across the state, we have fortunately started to see improvements due to a more active weather pattern,” said Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig. “Because Iowa did not have a plan before the start of our current drought, the Iowa Drought Plan was developed to be forward-looking and aimed at improving and standardizing our response across agencies in state government. Iowa farmers and agricultural stakeholders were asked to provide feedback at several in-person and virtual meetings last year and we believe the Iowa Drought Plan encompasses their valuable input.”

The DNR, Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management and the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship make up the Drought Coordinating Team responsible for coordinating messaging on drought levels and conditions. The team will update the plan every five years.

More information and the full plan can be found online at IowaDNR.gov.