May saw the unemployment rate stay about the same for most of the KCII listening area, according to Iowa Workforce Development.

Unemployment slightly increased from 1.8-1.9% in Washington County, 2.0-2.2% in Jefferson, 2.3%-2.7% in Henry, and 1.8-1.9% in Johnson. Unemployment slightly decreased from 2.5-2.4% in Louisa, and 2.5-2.2% in Keokuk. Iowa County was the only county to see no change in its unemployment rate staying at 1.9%. Unemployment decreased on a state level this May, from 3.0- 2.7% in Iowa and remained at 3.6% across the U.S.

All of Iowa’s 99 counties had lower unemployment than in May of last year, and the total number of working Iowans increased to 1,657,200 in May. This figure is approximately 10,000 higher than in April.