Posted 15 December, 2025
Iowa’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased to 3.7 percent in September. The state’s jobless rate was 3.3 percent one year ago. The U.S. unemployment rate rose to 4.4 percent in September.
This is the most recent Iowa data available following the federal government shutdown. Compared to last year, Iowa in September 2025 had more employed citizens, a higher labor force participation rate, 3,700 more jobs, and 25 percent fewer new unemployment claims than in September 2024.
IWD continues to work with federal partners on timelines for the remainder of the delayed data releases. Non-farm jobs, labor force and unemployment data for November and October (jobs only) will be published on January 7, 2026, with local areas to follow on January 16.
The total number of unemployed Iowans decreased to 64,900 in September from 65,800 in August.
The total number of working Iowans increased to 1,676,000 in September. This figure was 2,600 higher than August and 16,300 higher than one year ago. The labor force participation rate remained at 67.5 percent.