Iowa Workforce Development Annual Report Fiscal Year 2012

Iowa ended its third year of a moderate economic recovery as fiscal year 2012 came to a close. Though many of the fundamentals in the state’s economy reflected strength during the year, employment had not returned to its pre-recession level, and job growth remained tepid. Furthermore, there was a distinct dichotomy in where hiring occurred. Most of the state’s job growth was concentrated in the goods-producing industries of construction and manufacturing, while the service-providing industries showed little momentum except for healthcare. Within the manufacturing sector, machinery products was one of the state’s fastest-growing subsectors in 2011, accounting for the creation of several thousand higher-paying jobs. The state’s nonfarm employment advanced by 12,200 in FY 2012 led primarily by growth in manufacturing and construction, which were up 9,900 and 3,800, respectively. Healthcare was the strongest of the service-providing industries with an annual gain of 2,600 jobs, while government continued to be the biggest drag on the statewide economy. Although all three levels of government employment dropped from one year ago, state government lost the most jobs at 1,900.