recent press release from Greater Dubuque says that Dubuque County has become the best place in Iowa for job growth. That’s what the most latest labour statistics say. The number of jobs in the Dubuque County Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) grew by 2.2%, or 1,300, from August 2023 to August 2024. With these job improvements, Dubuque has the most jobs of the nine big cities in the state.
There are now 61,000 nonfarm jobs in the area, which is 800 more jobs than there were before the pandemic. The general year-over-year trend is still positive, even though there was a small drop of 200 jobs from July to August. This shows how strong Dubuque’s job market is.
With 1,400 new jobs, the private services industry was a big part of this growth. The number of jobs in the government also went up by 200, mostly because 500 new teachers were hired in August.
The rate of unemployment also went down, to 3.3%, with 300 fewer people reporting being jobless than the previous month. The unemployment rate fell by 0.5%, which is faster than normal for this time of year. This suggests that fewer people are getting unemployment benefits.
Even though there are more jobs, there are still problems, especially with people who aren’t working, which hasn’t improved as quickly as the general employment rate.
The recovery in participation rates may be taking longer than expected because of things like hybrid work, an ageing population, and job hunters who don’t match up with job openings.
Overall, the fact that the Dubuque economy is still doing well shows how strong the area is and how committed people are to creating jobs.
Local leaders are working to get more people to join the workforce and are teaming up with businesses and schools to make sure the region’s labour market will be successful in the long term.