Washington County Unemployment drops to 5.2%

Unemployment rates and the number of unemployed persons dropped in Washington County again in May, 2010. The County's unemployment rate fell a half percent to 5.2% from 5.7% in April. The laborforce remained steady at 12,400.

In addition, the number of unemployed persons fell from 700 to 600 in May. This accounted for around one-third of the drop in unemployed persons in the Iowa City MSA.

There were a total of 223 Washington County residents receiving unemployment benefits in May.  During the month, 18 receiving their final benefits payment and 48 received their first benefits payment.

The Iowa UR fell to 6.8% in May, 1.6% higher than Washington County. The national UR is still a very high 9.7%, although it fell from 9.9% in April.

Henry County's UR fell out of double digits, mostly due to a drop in the size of its labor force. Jefferson, Keokuk and Louisa Counties also had slight drops in laborforce as well, which accounted for a portion of the decrease in unemployment rates.

                      APRIL  2010                  MAY  2010

COUNTIES:             LABOR                        LABOR
(NOT SEASONAL ADJ.)   FORCE    EMP   UNEMP RATE    FORCE    EMP  UNEMP RATE
WASHINGTON
  (PART OF IC MSA) ..  12400   11700   700  5.7    12400   11700   600  5.2 
JOHNSON (PART OF MSA)  81600   77800  3800  4.7    81700   78200  3500  4.3 
HENRY ..............    9970    8860  1110 11.1     9830    8940   880  9.0 
JEFFERSON ..........    8230    7490   740  9.0     8180    7530   660  8.0 
KEOKUK .............    5660    5240   420  7.4     5550    5190   360  6.5 
LINN (PART OF MSA) .  123300  114800  8500  6.9   123300  115400  7900  6.4 
LOUISA .............   6310   5770   540  8.6   6230    5770   460  7.4

IOWA CITY MSA ......   94000   89400  4500  4.8    94000   89900  4200  4.4

IOWA (SEASONAL ADJ). 168920 1572800 116400  6.9 1687000 1571600 115400  6.8

U.S. (SEASONAL ADJ)*  154715  139455  15260 9.9   154393  139420 14973  9.7 
  * FIGURES ROUNDED TO NEAREST THOUSAND

SOURCE: LABOR MARKET AND ECONOMIC RESEARCH BUREAU, 

IOWA WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT  (515) 281-8182