Ask The Answer Person: What are the current and pre-COVID unemployment rates in Winneshiek County?

(Bob e-mails: "I know a lot of businesses/individuals may be hurting during COVID-19, but I'm wondering what the current and pre-covid unemployment rates have been in Winneshiek County?"):

The Answer Person says: "Winneshiek County was at 4.4 percent unemployment as the COVID-19 epidemic began arriving in March.  By April, that figure had not quite tripled.  11.2 percent of eligible workers were out of work in Winneshiek county in April.  Since then, those people have gradually found jobs.  Unemployment was at 8.6 percent in May, 6.7 percent in July and 3.2 percent in September.  For October—the last month for which there are statistics—2.4 percent of the workforce in Winneshiek County is out of work.

By the way, this trend mirrors the unemployment trend statewide since March.  Iowa had 3.3 percent unemployment in March, 10.2 percent unemployment in May, 6.8 percent unemployment in July, 4.8 percent unemployment in September and 3.6 percent unemployment in October.