DES MOINES, Iowa - Jobless claims in Iowa are coming down, but are still at historic levels. Weekly jobless claims dropped by 6,506 - to 17,735 from 23,241.
Ongoing claims for jobless insurance are up by 11,610 to more than 191,257. The previous week's total was 179,610.
The increase in jobless insurance claims means the state's unemployment rate is rising.
Unemployment insurance benefit payments totaled $52,903,527.20, up from $50,931,302.43 the previous week.
The following industries had the most claims:
- Manufacturing (4,065 - down from 6,053 the previous week)
- Industry Not Available - Self-employed, Independent Contractors, etc. (2,103 -down from 4,010)
- Health Care & Social Assistance (1,865 - down from 2,988)
- Accommodation & Food Services (1,269 - down from 2,200)
- Retail Trade (1,133 - down from 1,768)
Nationally, first-time jobless claims were just under three-million. The 2.98 million Americans filing initial claims for unemployment benefits were 195,000 fewer than the week before.
It pushed the total for the past eight weeks to right around 36 million.