Weekly Economic Trends and Indicators

The Headlines:

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) recently reported that seasonally adjusted nonfarm payroll employment in the Quad Cities metro area decreased by 200 in April and now stands at 183,800. Prior to seasonal adjustment, nonfarm payroll employment was 183,400, down 2,100 from April of last year.

The unemployment rate for the metro area was 3.8% in April. Labor force, employment, and unemployment numbers were revised downward accounting for annual population control adjustments.

The Details:

Employment in most job categories were little changed in the Quad Cities during the month of April. Categories with monthly changes of more than 100 jobs were the following: mining, logging, and construction (+700), professional and business services (+300), leisure and hospitality (+500), and government (-300).

The Context:

Once again, the category of mining, logging, and construction (mostly construction in this area) posted the largest job gains. Construction jobs are very seasonal in nature with lows in January and February and a peak during the summer months with a variation of about 2,000 jobs between the peak and the trough. The current time series data for local employment goes back to 1990, and April’s 11,900 jobs in mining, logging, and construction are the highest dating all the way back to the beginning of the series.

The previous high in construction jobs was in 1999. There was a brief plateau before a prolonged decline after the 2001 recession. Once the job numbers began turning up again in 2005, the trend has been mostly positive with only brief interruptions during the global financial crisis in 2008 and the COVID-19 recession in 2020.

Overall, employment in the Quad Cities since 2022 has varied little after seasonal adjustment. Manufacturing has lost jobs overall since 2022, but this is highly dependent on the type of manufacturing with transportation equipment manufacturing seeing strong gains and relative stability in areas such as metals and plastics. Construction, health care, and leisure and hospitality have also experienced growth.

Next week: U.S. labor market update