Unemployment down in county, state

Iowa Workforce Development announced in a press release Tuesday that Washington County?s unemployment rate in December was slightly below where it was last year and that the state?s unemployment rate was the lowest it has been in 2 ½ years. State unemployment was 5.6 percent in December, the lowest since June 2009.  Iowa?s unemployment is well below the national unemployment rate of 8.5 percent. Of about 1,660,000 people in the state?s labor force, 1,570,000 of them are employed.

Washington County?s unemployment rate in December was 4.9 percent, done from 5 percent in December 2010. Washington County has one of the lowest unemployment rates in southeast Iowa and is second only to Johnson County, which has a rate of 4.2 percent.

Approximately 600 people in the county who were looking for work in December could not find it. That compares to about 500 from the previous month. Also noteworthy is that Washington County?s labor force, which counts everyone who could be employed, dropped 100 people from 11,800 to 11,700 from November to December. The unemployment figures are not seasonally adjusted.

Washington County?s unemployment declined precipitously from last February to May in which the rate went from 6.5 down to 4.5. The rate fell as low as 4.3 percent in October and November before rising slightly last month.

All of the counties bordering Washington County saw a decline in their unemployment rates. Henry County?s and Jefferson County?s declined significantly in 2011, from 8.6 to 7.7 and 7.8 to 6.8, respectively. The improving economy has not touched all counties. Hamilton County in north central Iowa saw its unemployment rate balloon from 7.7 to 9.5, making it the highest in the state. Lee County in the southeast corner of the state, which had the highest unemployment rate in 2010 at 9.9 percent, had fallen to 9.1 by December 2011, although it still had the second highest unemployment rate in the state.

Unemployment decreased substantially in northeast Iowa. Numerous counties, such as Clayton, Dubuque, Allamakee, experienced drops of a full percent or more.

The press release stated that total nonfarm employment is very positive in the state. Manufacturing has led the recovery in the past year, adding 8,600 jobs. Education and health grew by 5,200 jobs and trade and transportation was up 4,700. Construction was another one of the winners as it grew by 3,100 jobs. The sector with the greatest job-loss was government, which trimmed 4,300 jobs. Finance lost 2,300 jobs. Other industries that lost jobs were information with 900 fewer jobs and leisure and hospitality with 400 fewer jobs.

?The state?s economy ended 2011 in a better place than was expected just a few months ago,? said Teresa Wahlert, director of Iowa Workforce Development. ?Both the labor force and total employment are beginning to trend upward, and the unemployment rate has fallen considerably below the 6.0 percent mark.?

Unemployment insurance claims were down 11 percent in the past year, falling from about 35,000 claims in December 2010 to 31,000 in December 2011. The amount of money paid in unemployment insurance claims fell 27 percent from almost $54 million in December 2010 to $39 million in December 2011.