Iowa Unemployment Rate Drops to 5.1%

IC at 3.2%; US at 8.9%

Iowa's job losses eased in April, as the state's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped to 5.1 percent from 5.2 percent in March.

One year ago, Iowa's jobless rate was reported at 4 percent. The U.S. unemployment rate climbed to 8.9 percent in April from 8.5 percent in March, and compared with 5 percent for April of 2008.

The Iowa City MSA had an April unemployment rate of 3.2 percent, down from 3.6 percent in March. Employment in the Iowa City MSA climbed by 1,000 to 74,900. The number of unemployed fell by 200 to 3,700.

The biggest job gains in the Iowa City metro area came in the services sector, which added 400 for a total of 81,200.

"The pace of job losses slowed in April, suggesting that the Iowa economy may be in the early stages of a turn," Elisabeth Buck, director of Iowa Workforce Development, said in the report. "However, the labor market is still very weak, and any recovery is expected to be modest and prolonged."

The number of working Iowans edged up to 1,590,000 in April from 1,587,300 in March, but was 18,500 below the year ago level of 1,608,500.Iowa's pool of unemployed workers trended downward to 85,400 in April from 87,500 in March. The statewide estimate of unemployed persons was reported at 66,900 in April 2008.