(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Workforce Development director Beth Townsend says the labor landscape in August remained pretty similar to what we’ve been seeing. “We have a slight uptick in our unemployment rate from three-point-seven to three-point-eight, but we did see an increase of labor force participation to 67-point-five. We added 19-hundred workers in August, so that’s a good sign,” she says. “Iowa employers added 36-hundred jobs in August as well.” Townsend says the addition of jobs was offset by continued layoffs in manufacturing. She says getting more people back into the workforce is important. “The group that we saw gains for the month of August was in the 20 to 24 age group, which is a key demographic because that group has, you know, been on the decline in terms of work,” Townsend says.

Townsend says Iowa’s economy continues to hold steady as we wait for more improvement on the national level. “I would not be the one to predict when we’re going to turn this all around, but I would say these are good trends and we hope that they continue. Obviously we want to bring the unemployment rate down, ” she says. Townsend says the amount of unemployment claims is another number that shows things are holding steady. “We paid out less money in August of 2025 than August of 2024 and benefits obviously went up in July of 2025. So you know you watching the unemployment insurance claim numbers are is also a good indicator of where we’re at,” Townsend says.

Townsend says the average duration for unemployment payouts remains below ten weeks, indicating they’re still able to help people find really good jobs.