Unemployment is slightly up for the state of Iowa over the last several months, with the number of employed people also up. State Senator Julian Garrett tells KNIA News a question he is asked often is how do both of those numbers go up at the same time, it would make more sense for one to rise and the other to fall.
“At any given time, we have a substantial number of working age people who aren’t working and aren’t looking for work. To get counted in the unemployment rate, you need to be looking for work. So if you are not, you don’t get counted. What has happened is several thousand people have decided to get into the workforce and go to work, people who have been sitting on the sidelines and haven’t been counted. So we have 4,400 new people employed, and then people are looking for work up by 1,000.”
For more information on the employment numbers in Iowa, tune in to today’s Let’s Talk Indianola.