(Des Moines, IA) -- State employees who've been working remotely may be returning to their office soon. Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds says state agencies are making plans to bring them back within weeks. Reynolds says she's also talking with and encouraging employers to bring their remote workers back into the office.
Reynolds announced Tuesday that the state would be ending the extended federal jobless benefit. The state's unemployment rate is among the lowest in the nation. Businesses have long complained about lack of available workers. Reynolds says that complaint has gotten louder during the pandemic.
She says the state's 7-day COVID positivity rate is 3.5% and nearly 60-percent of Iowans have had at least one dose of a COVID vaccine. She says nearly 50-percent are now fully vaccinated. Reynolds says nearly all of Iowa's older and most vulnerable population has been vaccinated. Currently there are nearly 160-people hospitalized in Iowa with coronavirus, which is 90-percent fewer than the peak in November.