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(Undated) -- Iowa continues to see positive employment numbers.
"In June we saw Iowa's unemployment rate held steady at 2.7%," says Iowa Workforce Development and Communications Officer Jesse Dougherty. "What was even more notable is we saw Iowa's labor force participation rate, that increased once again in June to 68.7%. That's actually one of the highest numbers of any state in the country but it's also the fourth-straight month that we've seen this increase."
Iowa added 4,900 new workers in June for a total workforce of 1,693,300. Iowa businesses are getting credit for making jobs more attractive.
"I think we've seen some pathways to the workforce get easier for Iowans," says Dougherty. "I think employers are also doing a lot of things to find and recruit new workers, I think there's also more, you know, things that they're putting on the table for workers in terms of recruitment and retention."
Iowa typically sees a little bump in employment in the summer time. Iowa added 400 jobs in June compared to losing 1,300 in May, but Dougherty says job and employment growth is always a good indicator of the overall economy.
Hospitality and leisure saw the biggest bump in jobs in June, adding over 3,200 jobs. On the downside, construction lost 1,700 jobs, down 3,800 for the year.
Regardless, the numbers are a sign of a strong Iowa economy.
"We expect that to continue," says Dougherty. "We think the foundational pieces, the foundation within Iowa, though, is strong. And that's the positive piece and right now we're really focused on those that haven't found a job yet."
Iowa Workforce Development's full unemployment report is available at iowalmi.gov.