The number of working Iowans continued to shrink in April, which saw 1,300 people leave the workforce, Iowa Workforce Development reported this week.

Iowa’s labor force participation rate slipped to 66.8% in April, down from 67% in March. The participation rate has dropped each month since December, when it was 67.5%. Iowa has 19,300 fewer workers than it did in April 2023, when the workforce totaled 1,666,200. The state now has 1,646,900 workers, according to the agency.

“Last month was the tenth month during the past year where Iowans voluntarily left the workforce, possibly to retire or go back to school,” Beth Townsend, executive director of the state agency, said in a prepared statement.

Also in April, Iowa businesses shed 900 jobs, lowering the seasonally adjusted, total nonfarm employment to 1,610,800. In April 2023, Iowa’s seasonally adjusted nonfarm employment was 1,587,900.

“On the heels of solid job growth over February and March, Iowa employers took a breather in April,” wrote Nationwide’s senior economist Ben Ayers about Iowa’s employment report. Still, “hiring within Iowa is still on a healthy track so far in 2024. But the decline shown in April will need to be monitored as a possible sign of a weaker trend going forward. … Recession fears are likely far off in the future with hiring and consumer activity across the country more resilient than expected in 2024.”

Areas that shed jobs include construction (-3,100), professional and business services (-600), and financial activities (-300). Leisure and hospitality added 1,000 jobs and professional and business services, 600 jobs.

Iowa’s unemployment rate was 2.8% in April, down slightly from March when it was 2.9%.

The U.S. unemployment rate in April was 3.9%, up slightly from March when it was 3.8%.