DES MOINES, Iowa - Weekly jobless claims in Iowa show a continuing downward trend in the long term.
Ongoing claims, which closely reflect the states actual unemployment rate, dropped by six percent in the last week.
First time claims, which tend to fluctuate from week to week, were up.
The state's overall unemployment rate is tied for fourth lowest in the country.
By the numbers, first time weekly jobless claims jumped by 504, from 3,145 to 3,649, a spike of about 14 percent. First time claims were down 15 percent in the previous week.
First time claims can wobble by seemingly wide margins from week to week without greatly impacting overall longer range numbers.
Ongoing claims for the most recent week fell from 27,764 to 26,193, reflecting the drop of 6 percent, following a 7 percent drop in the previous week.
Ongoing claims reached a peak in the early stages of the pandemic of more than 191,000 in late May of 2020.
Unemployment insurance benefit payments for the week totaled $7,324,997.55, a drop from $7,760,594.26 in the previous week. The following industries had the most claim
- Manufacturing (639)
- Industry Not Available - Self-employed, Independent Contractors, etc. (457)
- Retail Trade (269)
- Health Care & Social Assistance (265)
- Construction (263)