Iowa Leads The Nation In Key Job Statistic

A larger population of people in Iowa, than anywhere else in the nation are at work. The Des Moines Register reports that about 68.5% of Iowa's working-age population was employed in 2019. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics report released Wednesday, that was number one in the nation.

Iowa's first-place ranking puts it just ahead of Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Colorado, and New Hampshire. Iowa also had the biggest gain in working-age employment from 2018 to 2019, up 1.5% over the previous year.

The employment-population ration means the proportion of working-age people who have jobs. Officials divide the number of employed workers by the state's total population of people 16 and older. Why is Iowa's number so high? Experts credit a number of different factors including Iowa's strong work ethic. The strong job market in the state's largest cities is also a factor. Only the Davenport, Moline, Rock Island region has an unemployment rate above the national average.