(Spencer)– Iowa’s unemployment rate saw another increase last month–rising to 4.4 percent from 4.2 percent in November.
The trend carried over locally…with the combined rates for Clay and Dickinson counties increasing nearly a full percentage point–going from 2.9 percent in November to 3.7 percent last month. A year ago, the rate was 3.4 percent.
Chad Shryock, Executive Director of the Corridor of Opportunity, says the increase shouldn’t come as a surprise given the time of year we’re in. He says unemployment typically peaks in January or February, then starts to decline as seasonal businesses start hiring for the upcoming season.
The combined jobless rate of 3.7 percent for Clay and Dickinson counties was still below the statewide rate of 4.4 percent.
And Shryock points out the fact that even though the jobless rate was up from November, that the actual number of people employed in the two counties in December was at 20,210–150 less than November but 380 more than a year ago. Shryock says an increase in the workforce and a decrease in the number of jobs available is what buoyed up the jobless rate.
December unemployment rates in other counties in the region included Emmet at 4.9 percent; O’Brien and Buena Vista counties at 2.9; Osceola and Palo Alto counties at 3.3 percent; and Pocahontas county at 6.4 percent.
