Board updated on jobless statistics

By BRYCE KELLY

Mt. Pleasant News

Sub-committee reports dominated the latest Henry County Board of Supervisors meeting on Thursday. Supervisor Gary See gave an update on the most recent employment rates that were presented during a recent Workforce Investment Opportunity Act board meeting.

?At this time, I think our region is doing okay. But, of course, there is always ways we can improve,? said See. ?Every region has to determine what workforce needs they have, and I think our region has a great partnership with entities like SCC (Southeastern Community College) in helping us identify what our region?s current employment needs are and getting workers into areas that need them most.?

According to recent statistical reports released by Iowa Workforce Development, Iowa?s unemployment rate dropped to 3.7 percent in June. This is good news, especially when last year?s unemployment rate was 4.4 percent almost a year ago.

?For the fourth time this year, the unemployment rate is down,? said Beth Townsend, director of Iowa Workforce Development, in a recent public statement. ?As the lower unemployment trend continues, encouraging gains are being seen in the retail sector especially.?

The number of unemployed Iowans decreased to 63,700 in June from 64,800 in May.  The current estimate is 10,500 lower than the year ago level of 74,200.

The total number of working Iowans decreased to 1,640,800 in June 2015.  This figure was 4,900 lower than May 2015, and 11,300 higher than one year ago.

Since last year, trade and transportation has added the most jobs (over 7,600) and has been responsible for roughly a third of all the new jobs in Iowa, according to government reports.

Construction also added about 200 jobs in July 2015, and remains second in overall jobs added (about 3,800 jobs), followed by professional and business services (over 3,400 jobs). However, in the manufacturing sector, very little has changed.

Besides talk of employment rates in the county, Supervisor Marc Lindeen stated that the county is looking at ways to strengthen its HIPAA-compliant policies and procedures by possibly hiring an outside firm to take a look at the county?s current HIPAA documentation to ensure that there are no holes in any of the policies.

?This company can look at all your documentation and even rewrite some of your protocols if they feel something is not where it should be,? said Lindeen.

The board will be hearing from a representative of such a company next week.

The next Henry County Board of Supervisors meeting will be on Tuesday, Aug. 4, at 9 a.m., in the Henry County Courthouse.