Iowa’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 10% in May, down slightly from April’s rate of 10.2%, Iowa Workforce Development reported today.

The May 2019 rate was 2.7%.

“Given Iowa did not begin to reopen until May, it is not surprising that the unemployment rate remains at 10 percent,” Beth Townsend, the agency’s director, said in a prepared statement. “There are signs, however, that more people are returning to work as we see the total number of claims decline each week.”

During the week that ended on Saturday, 164,268 Iowans filed unemployment claims, the state agency reported this week.

Many of Iowa’s retail and entertainment businesses were temporarily closed beginning in mid-March in an effort to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus. In addition, several meatpacking and manufacturing plants closed temporarily after employees contracted the virus. The state’s economy began reopening in May.

Iowa businesses added 15,800 jobs in May, the state agency reported. 

Overall in May, 168,100 Iowans were unemployed, down from the 188,000 who were unemployed in April. In May 2019, 47,100 Iowans were without jobs, the agency reported.

The total number of working Iowans in Iowa slipped to 1.52 million in May, down 4,600 from April, the agency reported. 

Industries with the most job gains in May included leisure and hospitality (18,200 jobs added), food services (11,200), and arts, entertainment and recreation (7,000).

Even with the gains, those sectors still employ 38% fewer people when compared with a year ago, according to the state agency.

The U.S. unemployment rate was 13.3% in May.