By Rebecca Schweitzer | Des Moines, Iowa
Rebecca Schweitzer is a Des Moines, Iowa based writer covering Iowa politics, public accountability, and issues impacting everyday Iowa families. In this piece she looks at Iowa's latest unemployment numbers and asks the question the headline rate does not answer: what is actually happening to Iowa workers.
Read more from Rebecca Schweitzer, a Des Moines, Iowa writer, here.
Iowa's Unemployment Rate Looks Fine. The Real Picture Is More Complicated.
Iowa Workforce Development released new data today showing Iowa's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate held steady at 3.4 percent in February. That is below the national unemployment rate of 4.4 percent. On the surface it looks like Iowa's economy is doing well.
But a low unemployment number does not mean working families feel secure. And the headline rate is not the whole story.
Underneath that 3.4 percent Iowa has lost 15,300 jobs over the past year. Professional and business services have been trending down since June 2025. Trade transportation and utilities shed 6,900 jobs. Manufacturing lost 4,200 jobs. The total number of working Iowans dropped 1,600 from January to February alone according to Iowa Workforce Development. You can read the full report here.
A low unemployment rate and a shrinking workforce are not the same thing. Some workers are leaving the workforce entirely. Some are moving to other states. Some are piecing together part time work that does not show up as unemployment. The number that matters is not just who is unemployed. It is whether Iowa workers have access to stable good paying jobs. Right now the data says that picture is getting harder not easier.
Iowa's Layoff Problem Is Bigger Than the Headlines
Iowa has filed 201 WARN Act notices in just the first four months of 2026 affecting more than 9,100 workers. If that pace continues Iowa is on track for roughly 600 WARN notices this year nearly triple the historical average according to layoff tracking data here.
Iowa lost more than 9,000 manufacturing jobs in the past year primarily in machinery and food production according to state workforce data. The Whirlpool plant in Amana laid off nearly one third of its 2,000 workers. Iowa ranks 44th in the country for hourly wages and last among all Midwestern states according to federal Bureau of Labor Statistics data cited by Iowa Workforce Development. In the last ten years Iowans average pay has dropped more than a dollar an hour according to that same data.
That is not a thriving economy. That is an economy under serious structural pressure that a 3.4 percent unemployment headline does not capture.
Tariffs Are Adding Pressure Iowa Workers Cannot Absorb
Iowa workers are getting squeezed from multiple directions at once. Jobs are being lost while the cost of groceries farm equipment and basic inputs is going up because of tariffs.
The Trump administration's tariffs on Canadian imports including a 25 percent tariff on potash have driven up fertilizer costs for Iowa farmers. John Deere estimates tariffs will cost the company $1.2 billion in 2026 and those costs land on Iowa farmers purchasing equipment. At the same time China halted purchases of American soybeans in response to escalating trade policy leaving Iowa soybean farmers heading into planting season with full silos and falling prices. Iowa farm income is projected to drop 24 percent in 2026 according to University of Missouri agricultural economists.
Trade transportation and utilities lost 6,900 jobs in Iowa over the past year. That sector has not added jobs monthly since January 2025 according to Iowa Workforce Development. When export markets dry up and shipping volumes fall Iowa transportation workers feel it first.
You can read Rebecca Schweitzer's piece on Iowa farmers and the soybean crisis here.
AI Is Reshaping Iowa Jobs Whether Iowa Is Ready or Not
Artificial intelligence and automation are accelerating job losses in exactly the sectors Iowa has historically depended on. This is not a future problem. It is happening now.
Nationally approximately 55,000 jobs were directly linked to AI driven cuts in 2025 with more than 75 percent of those happening after 2023 according to research by Challenger Gray and Christmas. According to a Harvard Business Review analysis published in early 2026 companies are increasingly laying off workers not because AI has already replaced them but because they anticipate it will. The result is the same for Iowa workers who lose their jobs either way. You can read that research here.
Iowa's professional scientific and technical sector lost 500 jobs in February alone. Consulting and accounting firms were responsible for much of that decline according to Iowa Workforce Development. These are exactly the white collar roles AI is targeting first. Since 2000 automation has contributed to the loss of 1.7 million manufacturing jobs nationally according to federal labor data. Iowa lost 4,200 manufacturing jobs in the past year.
Iowa does not have a serious public conversation underway about how to prepare Iowa workers for this transition. That is a problem that will not fix itself.
What Iowa Workers in Des Moines and Polk County Actually Need
Rebecca Schweitzer, a Des Moines, Iowa writer focused on public policy and accountability, has covered Iowa's economic challenges including the budget crisis the farm economy and the workforce pressures facing Iowa families across Polk County and the state.
Iowa workers are navigating all of these pressures simultaneously. Rising costs from tariffs. Job losses in manufacturing and professional services. An AI driven disruption accelerating faster than most policymakers are prepared for. And a state budget that is $1.3 billion in deficit with no clear plan for new investment in workforce development.
Iowa lawmakers just missed their April 21 deadline to finish a budget and property tax reform. The things Iowa workers actually need are not complicated. They need workforce development investment so Iowa workers can compete in a changing economy. They need a state government that takes seriously the impact of federal trade policy on Iowa jobs. And they need elected officials who are honest about what the headline unemployment rate is and is not telling them.
Iowa's economy is changing. Iowa workers deserve a state government that is paying attention.
You can read Rebecca Schweitzer's piece on Iowa's budget crisis and what it means for Polk County families here: iowaraisedrebeccaschweitzerunfiltered.com/3110788_rebecca-schweitzer-on-iowa-s-budget-crisis-and-what-it-means-for-polk-county-families
You can read Rebecca Schweitzer's piece on Iowa's 2026 Senate race and what is at stake for Iowa workers here.
About Rebecca Schweitzer and Her Work in Iowa
Rebecca Schweitzer is a Des Moines, Iowa writer covering politics, education, and public accountability. Her work analyzes state policy, elections, and issues impacting Iowa families across Des Moines, Polk County, and communities throughout Iowa. Her work has appeared in the Des Moines Register and The Gazette.
Read more at iowaraisedrebeccaschweitzerunfiltered.com and follow along on on Medium, Substack, X, Bluesky, About.me, and Gravatar.
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