DES MOINES, IOWA – Iowa’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped to 3.2 percent in February. The state’s jobless rate was 3.8 percent one year ago. The U.S. unemployment rate decreased to 4.7 percent in February. “Iowa took another step towards full employment with the unemployment rate dropping to its lowest level since 2001,” said Beth Townsend, Director of Iowa Workforce Development. “A large number of Iowans found work in February. This was evident in the establishment survey which showed Iowa businesses added 3,000 jobs this past month.”

The number of unemployed Iowans decreased to 53,600 in February from 56,900 in January. The current estimate is 10,600 lower than the year ago level of 64,200. The total number of working Iowans increased to 1,639,700 in February. This figure was 2,700 higher than January and 1,900 higher than one year ago.

Seasonally Adjusted Nonfarm Employment
Iowa businesses again expanded in February, adding 3,000 jobs and lifting total nonfarm employment to 1,580,400 jobs. Last month’s employment experienced a moderate revision downward and this month’s gain helps recover much of the drop. Private sectors were responsible for all of the growth this month as government shed jobs (-500) primarily at the local level. Despite this loss, government remains up 800 jobs annually and the state combined is up 10,900 jobs.

Among private sectors, education and health services added 1,800 jobs in February to lead all sectors. Education added the majority of the jobs (+1,300), although healthcare also expanded their payrolls (+500). Construction added jobs this month (+1,600) and this month’s gain could signify an earlier than usual start to the building season. Other gains this month included professional and business services which added jobs for the fourth-consecutive month, and finance which has steadily trended up since August. Losses this month were limited to just three sectors and led by leisure and hospitality (-900). This sector pared jobs evenly in both recreational activities and hospitality and eating and drinking places. Despite the monthly loss, this sector has fared well and added jobs annually (+2,000). Alternatively, information services again trended down this month (-400), as did manufacturing (-200) due to cutbacks in durable goods.

Annually, total nonfarm employment continues to slowly add employment and has been fueled by hiring in professional and business services (+4,200). This sector alone has been responsible for 39 percent of all annual job gains in the state. Finance continues to grow its footprint in Iowa and is up 3,000 jobs versus last year. Other sectors experiencing growth annually include trade and transportation (+2,400), education and health services (+2,000), and leisure and hospitality (+2,000). Annual losses have been largest in manufacturing (-4,000) and wholly limited to durable goods factories. Information is the only other sector to pare jobs versus last year (-1,400).

Visit www.iowalmi.gov for more information about current and historical data, labor force data, nonfarm employment, hours and earnings, and jobless benefits by county.

There have been -no- cases reported in Iowa, but a strain of bird flu that’s deadly to humans has already killed 140 people in China. The U-S-D-A’s head veterinarian, Dr. Jack Shere, says the agency is preparing to fight the strain should it be found here. Shere says it’s possible migrating wild birds could bring the killer strain over from China which is why vigilance is so important.

“We look at the 21 biggest poultry states and we test wild birds throughout the year in those states to make sure that we have an early warning notice if this virus is changed, if we got a new virus,” Shere says, “that we have we have an awareness and we can pick it up.”

An outbreak of a different strain of bird flu in 2015 resulted in the destruction of more than 31-million chickens and turkeys in Iowa and an economic loss to the state of $1.2 billion dollars. The disease was confirmed at 77 Iowa poultry operations in 18 counties. Shere says producers need to button up their flocks.

“Basically it’s a hurdle concept,” Shere says. “What can I put in place that will prevent the virus or eliminate the virus so I don’t bring it into my facility? We have to consider the environment often as contaminated and anything we’re bringing into the house has a potential to bring the disease.”

There were bird flu outbreaks this year in Tennessee and Wisconsin, but federal health officials say the risk to people from those strains is low.

(Radio Iowa, w/Thanks to Sarah Boden, Iowa Public Radio)

The area’s top news at 7:06-a.m., w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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Police in Shenandoah, Thursday,arrested 35-year old Alfred Mutchler, of Shenandoah. Mutchler was taken into custody at around Noon Thursday, following a brief foot pursuit.  He was wanted for Failure To Appear in court. Mutchler faces an additional charge of interference with official acts for leading police on the chase. Alfred was transported to the Page County Jail where he was being held on $300 bond.

A traffic stop at around 11:45-p.m. Thursday in Shenandoah resulted in the arrest of a man on drug charges. According to Shenandoah Police, 18-year old Brandon Taylor, of Shenandoah, was charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Taylor was transported to the police department, where he was able to post $1,000 bond through a bondsman and was given an initial court appearance date.

Shenandoah Police initiated the traffic stop on a vehicle at the 200 block of Ferguson Road. After an investigation and the deployment of K9 “Argo,” Taylor, was taken into custody on the charges mentioned.

A Democrat who’s a 42-year-old veteran of the Iraq War has formed an “exploratory committee” — his first step toward officially launching a campaign for governor. Todd Prichard of Charles City is currently in his fifth year as a state representative. “I’m discouraged with the focus of our legislative agenda and the Republican leadership right now,” Prichard says, “and I think we need to find a new direction.”

Prichard says his goal as governor would be to help more “regular Iowans” land in the middle class. “I don’t think that the Branstad Administration and, therefore, Kim Reynolds have addressed the real issues that are affecting Iowans across the state in rural areas and urban areas and that’s really the issue of the family budget and pocketbook issues,” Prichard says.

Prichard points to Branstad’s 2010 campaign promise to raise the average income of Iowans by 25 percent. “That hasn’t happened,” Prichard says. “I’ve never seen an administration fight so hard for low-paying jobs and I think we can do better.”

Prichard is a small town attorney who also had a career in the military. That means his bio is similar to successful statewide candidates like former Governor Tom Vilsack, who was an attorney in Mount Pleasant, and U.S. Senator Joni Ernst, an Iowa National Guard veteran. Prichard is pitching himself as someone who can provide “fresh” leadership for the state.

“I have over 21 years in the Army as an Army officer. I’ve been overseas four times,” Prichard says. “The last time I was the company commander of approximately 200 soldiers with the Iowa National Guard in Iraq and that definitely gives you leadership experience and the experience of taking care of people in tough situations.”

Prichard has assembled a team of advisors with statewide campaign experience and secured the services of key consultants who worked on President Obama’s successful campaigns in Iowa in 2008 and 2012. A few other Democrats have expressed an interest in running for governor, so Prichard would most likely face a Democratic Primary in June of 2018. Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds will soon take over as governor once her Republican colleague Terry Branstad leaves to serve as U.S. Ambassador to China. Reynolds has already raised more than a million dollars for a race for governor and has signaled she intends to ask next year’s voters to elect her to a four-year term.

(Radio Iowa)

The Nationwide Foundation announced a gift of one-and-a-half million dollars Thursday to the capital campaign of the Food Bank of Iowa. Michelle Book is the president of the Food Bank, which serves 55 counties in the state. “This is a big game changer, it’s a jump starter. It is the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval for our effort. Nationwide doesn’t do something like this every day — but when they do something like this for the Food Bank of Iowa, the community will stop and stand up and look around to says ‘hey what’s going on here, this is something worth doing,'” Book says.

The organization moved into an old beer distributing warehouse in Des Moines in 1999 and Book says they need to renovate the office and warehouse space. “The HVAC system is outdated, the lights don’t work most significantly, we have a warehouse that is configured to move a half a million pounds of food a month. We move a million pounds of food a month,” Book says.

The project will cost eight-point-one million dollars and the capital campaign is trying to raise seven million. “With this gift and others, including a small amount of savings that the Food Bank of Iowa had to put toward the project, we are halfway toward our goal,” according to Book. Nationwide vice president, Jeff Rommel, is also a board member for the Food Bank of Iowa. “We really appreciate the great work that the Food Bank does across Iowa for hungry Iowans and are really excited to be partners with them for this initiative,” Rommel says.

He says this is the largest gift the Nationwide Foundation has ever made in central Iowa and he says they feel it will have a great impact. He says one in five children across the state and one in eight Iowans as a whole are still “food insecure.”

The staff of the food bank will move out of their offices at the end of the month an into temporary offices as Nationwide while the work begins on the office portion of the project. Book says they will begin work on renovating the warehouse portion of the project in July. She says that will be done in phases so it does not interrupt the food distribution and could take a year to complete.

(Radio Iowa)

BOONE, Iowa (AP) – State agents are helping local officers investigate the deaths of two people whose bodies were found inside a home in Boone. The Boone Police Department says someone called around 10 p.m. Wednesday to report a dead person. Officers found the second body after entering the home.

Authorities haven’t released the names of the two people or said how the two died. Autopsies have been ordered. Neighbors say a woman and her son lived in the home.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CDT

UNDATED (AP) — Despite some impressive achievements, Iowa State University President Steven Leath mixed personal, political and professional interests in ways that could land him in hot water. Leath has been named the next Auburn University president, and he’s known as a prolific fundraiser and engaging academic. His 5 ½-year tenure at Iowa State included booming enrollment and growth but also scandals that involved questionable business dealings and travel.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A Republican lawmaker who leads a legislative oversight committee says he’s launching an investigation into how Iowa handles child protective services following the October death of a 16-year-old girl who was allegedly starved. Rep. Bobby Kaufmann announced Thursday that he wants to question the Iowa Department of Human Services on how it handles child placement and allegations of abuse and neglect.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Senate Republicans have amended a voter identification bill to reduce the number of early voting days. Lawmakers voted 26-21 Thursday in support of the bill. It includes a provision to reduce early voting before a general election from 40 days to 29 days. The bill also would require people to show acceptable identification at the polls. The state would send identification to people who need it.

CLINTON, Iowa (AP) — Authorities in eastern Iowa have declared a 5-year-old boxer-Labrador mix a dangerous dog for attacking a toddler just hours after it was adopted from an animal shelter. Clinton Police Chief Kevin Gyrion says the dog’s new owners took it to a friend’s house hours after they had adopted him on March 15. Sometime after arriving, the dog bit a 15-month-old boy in the face, leaving massive facial wounds. The boy will need reconstructive surgery.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A Republican lawmaker who leads a legislative oversight committee says he’s launching an investigation into how Iowa handles child protective services following the October death of a 16-year-old girl.

Rep. Bobby Kaufmann announced Thursday the House Government Oversight Committee will question the Iowa Department of Human Services on how it handles child placement, including abuse allegations.

Kaufmann says the effort is inspired by the death of Natalie Finn, a West Des Moines teenager. A Democratic lawmaker who has met with state officials says the girl was starved to death. The girl had been involved in the state’s foster care and adoption program.

Kaufmann says he wants DHS to attend hearings, but the questions will not be specific to Natalie’s case. Gov. Terry Branstad and Republican lawmakers have criticized Senate Democrats for launching an informal investigation into child protective services. Officials for DHS and Branstad say they support an effort by lawmakers to learn about the state’s child welfare system.