Iowa Among Top States With Highest Increase Of Unemployment

The numbers keep coming in and things are looking bleak.  There have been highly publicized job cuts from John Deere.  Plus, other under-the-radar cuts from companies "reducing in force" across Iowa and the country causing unemployment claims to continue to rise.

READ MORE: HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE LOST JOBS AT JOHN DEERE?

While some states are doing better than others Iowans are one of the top states in the country getting in the unemployment line.  However, Iowa is not following one trend when it comes to unemployment in red and blue states.

Most Recent Unemployment Numbers

According to Wallethub, the U.S. reduced unemployment to record lows last year.  However, things have changed since 2023 with an overall rise since then. Most recently, the job market continued to falter, with new unemployment claims increasing by 6% week-over-week on July 22. There are currently 6.8 million Americans unemployed in total.

READ MORE:  5 IOWA STORES THAT COULD BE CLOSING

Iowa, Washington, Alaska, Oregon, Delaware, Minnesota, Kansas, Colorado, Virginia, Michigan, Massachusetts, and Missouri all had unemployment claims on July 22 that were higher than in the previous week.

Where Iowa Ranks In Unemployment Claims

Massachusetts was the worst for unemployment claims, followed by Michigan and then Missouri in third.  Coming in 4th in the country was Iowa.

The most staggering numbers are the year-over-year comparison.  The change in unemployment claims for the week of July 22 vs. the same week in 2023 was up 24%.  The change in unemployment claims year to date vs. the same period in 2023 is up a whopping 27.86%

The map below shows which states were hit the hardest recently.

While Iowa voted Republican in the 2020 election it is not following the national trend.  WalletHub showed that "blue states" unemployment claims are increasing the most across the country.