A 4.4 percent increase in online job openings and a reduction in the number of unemployed Iowans by 4,000 pushed AIM’s June Work Force Index (WFI) for Iowa to 88.4 from May’s revised and healthy 78.6. The WFI is a statistically based measurement tool produced by AIM, a nonprofit organization in Des Moines, Iowa. The Index is a ratio of unique online job postings and the number of unemployed in Iowa (not seasonally adjusted). The WFI ranges between 0 and 100. A WFI below 50.0 indicates short-term job contraction while an Index above 50.0 indicates job expansion.

Fading and improving areas: The areas showing the greatest percentage improvements in online job openings from May to June were: retail jobs, nursing positions, and customer services jobs. The areas recording the largest percentage declines from May to June were: general business positions, followed by insurance positions, then transportation openings.

Online openings. In June, the largest number of online job postings were in: 1) sales, followed by 2) management, and 3) healthcare positions other than nursing jobs. As a share of state employment, the largest numbers of job openings in descending order were in: 1) finance, 2) engineering, and then 3) customer services positions.

State Rankings. In terms of Work Force Indices among the states for June, Nebraska ranked number one with the highest WFI. Nebraska was followed by North Dakota at number two, Iowa at three, Minnesota at four, and Kansas at five. The state with the lowest WFI was Alaska, followed by West Virginia at 49, and Mississippi at 48. Rounding out the bottom five states were Louisiana at 47 and Maine at 46.

For more information on Iowa’s Work Force Index and other state rankings, visit: aimforbrilliance.org/workforce-index/iowa.