DES MOINES, Iowa - Iowa's unemployment rate is down for the second straight month after peaking in April from the COVID-19 outbreak.
The new numbers released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show the state has regained close to half the jobs lost when businesses were forced to close during the pandemic. The state has gained 93,100 jobs in recent months.
Iowa's unemployment rate is now tied for seventh lowest in the country at 6.6 percent for the month of July. The rate peaked at 10.2 percent in May, dropped to 10 percent in May, and fell to 8.4 percent in June.
The number is still more than double of what it was in February, before the pandemic took hold. Iowa's unemployment rate in February was under 3 percent, and was 2.7 percent a year ago.