MSN CareerBuilder Puts Iowa City on "Best Cities for Jobs" List

Iowa City, Dubuque, and Waterloo/Cedar Falls Make List

By Kate Lorenz, CareerBuilder Editor

Last fall, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the recession was "very likely over" -- at least by the numbers -- and the United States had moved into a period of recovery.

That was September. Most job seekers, especially the 5.9 million long-term unemployed workers who have been out of work for six months or more, are still waiting for that renewal.

The national unemployment rate in October was 9.5 percent, not seasonally adjusted, up from 6.1 percent a year earlier. Fifteen metro areas recorded jobless rates of at least 15 percent, while 13 others registered rates below 5 percent. Overall, 138 areas recorded unemployment rates above the U.S. average, 229 areas reported rates below it, and 5 areas had the same rate, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

But the unemployment rate is a lag indicator. Looking at other BLS figures, there are signs that the economy is healing. Many U.S. metros experienced some -- albeit small -- job growth from the period of July 2009-October 2009 (most recent data available at press time).

According to seasonally adjusted data from the BLS, out of the largest 281 metros in the United States, 77 cities added jobs the July-October 2009 period. Eleven metros saw no change in the number of employed persons; however, another 193 metros saw declines in jobs.

Iowa City was one of only three Iowa communities posting positive job growth between July and October of 2009.  Only 77 metros nationwide posted positivie job growth during that time.  Of those 77 cities whose employment increased from July-October 2009, here are the 3 Iowa communities that saw growth by 1 percent or more:

Dubuque, Iowa
No. of employed in July: 53,200
No. of employed in October: 54,300
Percent change: +2.1

Iowa City, Iowa
No. of employed in July: 91,000
No. of employed in October: 92,100
Percent change: +1.2

Waterloo-Cedar Falls, Iowa
No. of employed in July: 87,300
No. of employed in October: 88,200
Percent change: +1