February Summary
- Iowa's workforce index (WFI) ranked 14th best in the nation, an improvement from January's 15th best.
- Iowa's job market, based on online openings, remains healthy.
- In absolute numbers, the greatest numbers of online job openings were in management followed by sales, and next customer services positions.
- As a percent of employment, the largest numbers of online openings were in engineering, finance, and then automobile sales and services positions.
Iowa WFI. AIM's February WFI climbed to a healthy 65.3 from 63.4 in January. The WFI is a statistically based measurement tool produced by AIM, a not-for-profit 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 Index ranges between 0 and 100. A WFI below 50.0 indicates short-term job contraction while an Index above 50.0 indicates job expansion. At 65.3, Iowa's WFI indicates a very healthy level of on-line job openings.
Fading and improving areas. The occupations showing the greatest improvements from January were: general business positions, nursing occupations, and customer services positions. The occupations recording the largest declines from January were: clerical occupations, finance jobs, and maintenance jobs.
Online Openings. In February, the largest number of open online positions in absolute numbers were in 1) management, followed by 2) sales, and then 3) customer services positions. As a share of employment, the largest numbers of job openings in descending order were: 1) engineering openings, 2) finance positions, and 3) automobile sales and services positions.
State Rankings. In terms of WFIs Indices among the states, Nebraska ranked number one with the highest WFI. Nebraska was followed by Kansas at number two, Delaware at three, Minnesota at four, and North Dakota at five. The state with the lowest index was Maine, followed by Mississippi at 49, and California at 48. Rounding out the bottom five states were Rhode Island at 47 and Alaska at 46. Iowa ranked as the 14th best in the nation, a decline from the state's 15th best in the nation for January 2015.
