DES MOINES, Iowa - Iowa's employment picture is showing a slight improvement.
Ongoing weekly jobless claims, which reflect the actual unemployment rate, are down 4 percent.
Ongoing claims are down for the 17th week in a row, and have dropped more than 80 percent from their peak in early May.
First time jobless claims in Iowa ticked up in the last week. First time claims rose by 967 to 5,576 from 4,609 the week before.
Ongoing claims dropped by 1,322, from 36,982 to 35,660, reflecting the nearly 4 percent drop.
Iowa's overall unemployment rate is 4.7 percent, the 5th lowest in the country.
Unemployment insurance benefit payments totaled $10,139,790.87, down from $10,416,685.95 in the previous week.
The following industries had the most claims:
- Manufacturing (1,005)
- Industry Not Available - Self-employed, Independent Contractors, etc (743)
- Construction (634)
- Health Care & Social Assistance (629)
- Retail Trade (365)