Posted 10 April, 2026
Iowa added 6,400 jobs and increased its Labor Force Participation Rate to 67.9 percent in January. December’s Labor Force Participation Rate, previously reported at 67.7 percent, was also revised upward to 67.9 percent amid an annual revision of labor statistics. Meanwhile, the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate, which had been revised downward to 3.4 percent for December, held steady at that level in January. The U.S. unemployment rate decreased to 4.3 percent in January.
The total number of unemployed Iowans decreased to 59,100 in January from 59,900 in December. The total number of Iowans with jobs rose to 1,684,700 in January. This figure is 800 higher than December and 17,000 higher than one year ago.
“The good news from the January report is the continued increase in the number of Iowans participating in the workforce, the total number of Iowans working and the increase in jobs added within the state," said Beth Townsend, Executive Director of Iowa Workforce Development. “Construction added 1,300 jobs, manufacturing added 1,000 jobs and education and health services added 1,100 jobs. Iowa employers continue to hire, and there are over 52,000 new opportunities posted on IowaWORKS.gov for Iowans looking for a job or a new career.”
The last five years of monthly labor force data (2021-2025) 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 with this release.