Jasper County’s unemployment rate fell significantly last month…to 2.4-percent. That’s the lowest it’s been since the 2.4-percent rate for May of last year. In March…Jasper County’s unemployment rate was 3.6-percent. Iowa Workforce Development says 230 less job seekers were unemployed in April, as compared to March. The County had 450 jobseekers last month…down from 680 in March. Another 80 workers joined the County’s labor force in April, pushing that number up to 18-thousand 880. Iowa Workforce Development spokesperson, Jesse Dougherty, says getting more people back looking for work is important.

310 more County residents had jobs last month…raising the County’s employed total to 18-thousand 430. April’s statewide unemployment rate dropped down to two-point-seven percent in April, compared to two-point-eight percent in March. Iowa Workforce Development says the lowest Iowa unemployment rate was two-point-three percent in April 2022. That number came after the U-S Labor Department made its annual revisions for the year.