DES MOINES, Iowa - Iowa's weekly jobless claims are sharply up after a long progression downward.
First time weekly claims nearly doubled in the most recent week.
Ongoing weekly jobless claims, which reflect the state's actual unemployment rate, spiked by 20 percent.
Iowa Workforce Development says the biggest increase in claims typically takes place in the holiday period when seasonal layoffs occur. Those layoff most often affect the construction, agriculture, landscaping and manufacturing sectors.
Ongoing claims are still down by roughly 75 percent from their pandemic high mark back in May.
By the numbers, weekly jobless claims rose to 10,747 from 5,390 in the prior week, an increase of more than 100 percent. Ongoing claims jumped from 33,712 to 43,121, a rise of 22 percent. By comparison, ongoing claims reached a peak in the early stages of the pandemic of more than 191,000 in late may.
Iowa overall unemployment rate is 3.6 percent.
Unemployment insurance benefit payments totaled $12,564,372.83, up from $10,269,549.21 in the previous week.
The following industries had the most claims:
Construction (2,501)
Manufacturing (1,293)
Industry Not Available - Self-employed, Independent Contractors, etc (1,036)
Accommodation & Food Services (960)
Administrative, Support, Waste Management, and Remediation Services (891)