DES MOINES, Iowa - Weekly jobless claims are down in Iowa.
First time claims have dropped eight percent from the previous week.
Ongoing claims are also down, and have dropped by two-thirds from their pandemic peak in May of last year.
Ongoing weekly claims more closely represent Iowa's actual unemployment rate, which is currently the 4th lowest in the country.
By the numbers, first time weekly claims are down by 581, from 7,366 to 6,785, equaling the drop of six percent.
Ongoing claims are down 1,859, from 48,553 to 46,694, a roughly four percent drop.
Ongoing claims reached a peak in the early stages of the pandemic of more than 191,000 in late May of 2020.
For the most recent week, unemployment insurance benefit payments totaled $15,333,229.77, a slight increase from $15,638,255.25 the week before.
The following industries had the most claims:
- Construction (1,327)
- Manufacturing (974)
- Industry Not Available - Self-employed, Independent Contractors, etc (964)
- Retail Trade (546)
- Health Care & Social Assistance (461)