The unemployment rate in Washington County dropped from March to April. In March there were about 300 people unemployed at a rate of 2.8%, and it dropped to 1.9% with 200 people unemployed in April. Iowa Workforce Development data shows the state’s overall unemployment rate remained steady at 2.4%. Washington County is part of the Iowa City metropolitan statistical area which added approximately 1,000 jobs. Of those new jobs, 600 were in service-providing industries and the retail trade added jobs for the first time since November. This month’s gain of about 300 jobs is the largest one-month gain in the retail industry since September of 2017. Compared to a year ago, there’s been a loss of about 1,100 jobs, mostly in private service-providing industries, in addition to a loss of about 100 in government.

County – March rate, April rate
Henry – 2.3, 1.9
Iowa – 2.7, 1.7
Jefferson – 2.4, 1.9
Johnson – 1.7, 1.5
Keokuk – 3.6, 2.5
Louisa – 2.9, 2.0
Washington – 2.8, 1.9