The latest local data released by Iowa Workforce Development shows the unemployment rate in Marion County has remained mostly steady from April to May. Last month, 8.2 percent of workers were out of work and seeking jobs in Marion County, which is still a sharp increase from May 2019 numbers, when the local rate was 1.9%. Nearly 1,500 residents were considered unemployed out of the local labor force of 18,100, which lags behind the state’s 9.7 percent unemployment rate reported in May 2020. Marion County’s April 2020 unemployment number was at 8.3 percent. The vast majority of job losses in the state of Iowa and locally are attributed to closures related to the COVID-19 pandemic earlier this year.