Iowa’s Labor Force Participation Climbs to 67.0 percent

Iowa Workforce Development Communications
For Immediate Release
Date: March 17, 2025
Contact: Jesse Dougherty
Telephone: 515-725-5487
Email: communications@iwd.iowa.gov

Printer Friendly Version (PDF)

Iowa’s Labor Force Participation Climbs to 67.0 percent

DES MOINES, IOWA – Iowa’s Labor Force Participation Rate rose to 67.0 percent in January, up from the 66.4 percent first announced for December, after growth and an annual revision of labor statistics added 31,000 people to the official estimate of Iowa’s workforce. 

Even after the revision, January’s Labor Force Participation increased slightly from the revised December rate of 66.9 percent. Meanwhile, Iowa’s unemployment rate in January held steady with the revised December rate of 3.3 percent, while the U.S. unemployment rate decreased to 4.0 percent.

The total number of unemployed Iowans increased to 56,500, up 200 from revised December data. Meanwhile, the number of working Iowans rose by 2,700 to 1,664,100. The largest increases in the labor force came among women aged 45-54 and women 20-24.

“January’s report showed a large number of people entering Iowa’s labor force and immediately finding work,” said Beth Townsend, Executive Director of Iowa Workforce Development. “Despite recent layoffs in some industries, Iowa grew jobs in January, for the third month in a row, and absorbed more than 2,000 people who came back to the workforce in search of a new career. Growing labor force participation is a welcome improvement to see early in 2025; with more than 50,000 open jobs, we know employers need even more Iowans to return to the workforce.” 

The last five years of monthly labor force data (2020-2024) recently were revised as required by the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. This “benchmarking” is the periodic process of re-estimating statistics as more complete data becomes available, such as updated data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Prior-year estimates for the Current Employment Statistics (CES) and Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) programs – key statistical measures of employment – are benchmarked annually. Revised data are incorporated in January employment statistics when they are released each March.

Seasonally Adjusted Nonfarm Employment

Iowa establishments added 1,400 jobs in January, raising total nonfarm employment to 1,594,200. This increase is the third consecutive for the state, with gains stemming from private education (+100) and health care (+600) industries. Government (a sector that includes federal, state, and local political subdivisions, as well as schools, universities, and public hospitals) grew largely because state universities retained more jobs than seasonally expected. Meanwhile, private industries shed 1,500 jobs between December and January and are now down 2,500 jobs annually.

Health care and social assistance added 600 jobs to lead all other sectors. This sector has gained jobs in four consecutive months and continues to trend up, at all-time highs for employment within this sector. Other gains were small and included leisure and hospitality and other services. Conversely, construction shed the most jobs in January (-800). This decline erases a gain of similar magnitude in December. Professional and business services are also down relative to December (-600). Half of those jobs shed were related to the management of companies and enterprises. Manufacturing lost 300 jobs in January. Most of these losses were within durable goods factories.

Total nonfarm employment is up 4,200 jobs over the last 12 months. Private service industries have gained 7,400 jobs thanks to hiring in education and health care (+4,700) and trade and transportation (+3,100). Annual losses were led by manufacturing (-7,100). Most of these losses were within durable goods production (-4,800). Construction is down 2,700 jobs since last year, and professional and business services has shed 2,300 jobs.

Employment and Unemployment in Iowa, Seasonally Adjusted Data
				Change from
	January	December	January	December	January
	2025	2024	2024	2024	2024
Civilian labor force	1,720,500	1,717,700	1,706,900	2,800	13,600
Unemployment	56,500	56,300	47,200	200	9,300
Unemployment rate	3.3%	3.3%	2.8%	0.0	0.5
Employment	1,664,100	1,661,400	1,659,700	2,700	4,400
Labor Force Participation Rate	67.0%	66.9%	67.0%	0.1	0.0
U.S. unemployment rate	4.0%	4.1%	3.7%	-0.1	0.3
Nonfarm Employment in Iowa, Seasonally Adjusted Data
Total Nonfarm Employment	1,594,200	1,592,800	1,590,000	1,400	4,200
Mining	2,100	2,300	2,200	-200	-100
Construction	82,000	82,800	84,700	-800	-2,700
Manufacturing	217,500	217,800	224,600	-300	-7,100
Trade, transportation and utilities	310,700	311,000	307,600	-300	3,100
Information	17,800	17,900	18,100	-100	-300
Financial activities	105,400	105,600	106,800	-200	-1,400
Professional and business services	144,400	145,000	146,700	-600	-2,300
Education and health services	242,700	242,000	238,000	700	4,700
Leisure and hospitality	142,900	142,700	139,900	200	3,000
Other services	56,100	56,000	55,500	100	600
Government	272,600	269,700	265,900	2,900	6,700
Data Above Subject to Revision

Unemployment Insurance Claims for Iowa
				% Change from
	January	December	January	December	January
	2025	2024	2024	2024	2024
Initial claims	15,581	25,306	18,754	-38.4%	-16.9%
Continued claims
Benefit recipients	35,588	22,330	26,737	59.4%	33.1%
Weeks paid	114,389	58,404	97,851	95.9%	16.9%
Amount paid	$61,284,671	$30,816,566	$51,160,489	98.9%	19.8%

MEDIA ALERT: Local data for January 2025 is available on the IWD website. Statewide data for February 2025 will be released on Thursday, March 27, 2025.

Visit Iowa Labor Market Information for more information about current and historical data, labor force data, nonfarm employment, hours and earnings, and jobless benefits by county.

###