REGIONALâA year out from the start of the coronavirus pandemic, NâWest Iowa counties have some of the lowest unemployment numbers in the state.
Lyon and Osceola counties each recorded 2.7 percent unemployment as of March, second-lowest only to Fremont County in southwest Iowa at 2.5 percent, according to data from the Iowa Workforce Development.
Those unemployment figures are close to where the NâWest Iowa counties were at in March 2020: 2.5 percent for Lyon and 2.4 percent for Osceola. Last April, however, they jumped to 4.6 percent and 5.7 percent respectively after the onset of the pandemic.
Throughout the rest of 2020, unemployment rates in Lyon and Osceola gradually trended downward as economic recovery efforts got underway. OâBrien and Sioux counties likewise saw their unemployment rates go from 6.8 percent and 5.5 percent last April to 3.3 percent and 3 percent as of March respectively.