By Dar Danielson (Radio Iowa)

The Iowa State Fair wrapped up Sunday after an 11-day run topping the one-million mark again.

State Fair CEO Gary Slater says there were not many negatives. “The Fair is just tremendous this year — smooth running and whatnot, There’s a little devil in some of the details, but nothing that is any major thing,”  he says.

The last Friday of the Fair saw more than three inches of rain that fell in a short time — making for some wet fairgoers and some muddy areas.  But the rest of the days were nice — which wasn’t a given with triple-digit temperatures and heat indices heading up to the Fair start.

“A month ago, having 95-96 degree temperatures here, we just didn’t know what was going to happen,” Slater says. “But it did settle down after the first weekend, and we’ve had just tremendous weather there until that rain,” Slater says fair ticket sales are the top revenue source for the Iowa State Fair and he is pleased to see attendance top the one million mark (1,016,917) with Sunday’s numbers still to be finalized.

“Attendance means a lot to us, we try our very, very best to have something for everybody out here. And that does mean dollars in the bank and the more people you get out here then the concessionaires and all of the vendors selling all their wares in the building are all happy when we’ve got a good crowd,” Slater says.  Saturday saw 128,298 visitors — a record high for one-day attendance — with Sunday still to be tallied.

The total visitors could surpass last year’s  1,094,480 mark. Slater says the business side of the fair continues for several weeks. “It takes us a while just to pick everything up on the fairgrounds and put it back in the warehouse. Make sure you know if it’s still in good shape, or if it needs attention before next year and put those things in priority aisle or one that they’re good for next year’s aisle,” according to  Slater. “And then of course paying bills, gosh, we’ll pay bills through the middle of October here it seems like from the Fair.”

They will also work on the planning for next year’s State Fair. “We’ll work with 4-H and F-F-A on livestock show schedules this fall. Entertainment,  have offers in the works for next year’s grandstand show already,” he says. The 2023 Iowa State Fair will run from August 10th through the 20th.

DES MOINES, IOWA – Iowa’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped to 2.5 percent in July, down from 2.6 percent in June and 4.4 percent one year ago. The U.S. unemployment rate decreased to 3.5 percent in July.

The number of unemployed Iowans decreased to 43,300 in July from 43,900 in June. The total number of working Iowans increased to 1,667,200 in July. This figure is 1,800 higher than June and 58,600 higher than one year ago.

Overall, the state’s labor force participation rate remained at 67.8 percent in July, despite 1,400 Iowans rejoining the labor force. Iowa added a total of 3,800 jobs.

“July’s good news shows that, despite current national economic challenges, Iowa’s economy continues its positive direction,” said Beth Townsend, Director of Iowa Workforce Development. “We are helping workers find new career pathways, and we remain laser focused on reemployment so we can help every Iowan find the right job and every employer find a qualified workforce.”

Seasonally Adjusted Nonfarm Employment

Iowa total nonfarm payroll employment advanced by 3,800 jobs in July. This monthly gain was the fourth consecutive increase and was largely due to service industries bolstering payrolls, particularly within professional and business services and health care. While private services again took a step forward this month (+3,100), government also added jobs primarily at the local level and related to temporary summer programs (+700). Following the gain, government now stands 6,100 above last year’s mark while the state is up 33,900 jobs.

Health care and social assistance added the most jobs of any sector in July, gaining 1,300 jobs from June. This sector has been slow to recover since the pandemic began, but growth has been evident in 2022 with 2,300 jobs gained this year. Administrative support, waste management, and remediation industries added 1,000 jobs in July. Much of this increase was fueled by hiring of seasonal staff to help with services to buildings and dwellings, specifically landscaping. Manufacturing added jobs this month (+800) with gains in both durable and nondurable goods factories. This sector continues to trend upward and has added 6,700 jobs in 2022 thus far. Conversely, job losses were most evident in retail trade in July (-800), particularly for miscellaneous store retailers. This decline now marks the fifth straight loss with 3,900 jobs pared during that span. All other losses were sparse in July with small drops in construction (-300), financial activities (-200), and leisure and hospitality (-200).

Over the past 12 months, Iowa firms have added 33,900 jobs. Despite little movement this month, leisure and hospitality has gained the most jobs (+10,100). Accommodations and food services alone are up 8,800 jobs. Manufacturing is now up 7,700 with hiring being slightly greater in nondurable goods factories (+4,600). Food manufacturing, particularly slaughtering and meat packing, has been especially robust. Trade, transportation, and utilities are up 5,000 with hiring being particularly strong in transportation and warehousing.