Since 1950, Iowa has consistently ranked above the national average in employment of its work force. Iowa's unemployment rate of 4.6% for July 2003 was below the overall US rate of 6.2%. According to Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) provisional estimates, in July 2003 the seasonally adjusted civilian labor force in Iowa numbered 1,644,200, with approximately 74,900 workers unemployed. Since the beginning of the BLS data series in 1978, the highest unemployment rate recorded was 8.9% in January 1983. The historical low was 2.3% in November 1999. It is estimated that in 2001, 4.4% of the labor force was employed in construction; 17.6% in manufacturing; 4.8% in transportation, communications, and public utilities; 18.9% in trade; 6.7% in finance, insurance, and real estate; 20.8% in services; 14.4% in government; and 5.2% in agriculture.
The labor movement generally has not been strong in Iowa, and labor unions have had little success in organizing farm laborers. The Knights of Labor, consisting mostly of miners and railroad workers, was organized in Iowa in 1876 and enrolled 25,000 members by 1885. But the Knights practically disappeared after 1893, when the American Federation of Labor (AFL) established itself in the state among miners and other workers. The Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) succeeded in organizing workers in public utilities, meat packing, and light industries in 1937. After 1955, when the AFL and CIO merged, the power and influence of labor unions increased in the state.
Iowa did not forbid the employment of women in dangerous occupations or prohibit the employment of children under 14 years of age in factories, shops, or mines until the early 1900s.
The US Department of Labor reported that in 2002, 155,000 of Iowa's 1,395,000 employed wage and salary workers were members of unions. This represented 11.1% of those so employed, down from 12.8% in 2001. The national average is 13.2%. In all, 190,000 workers (13.6%) were represented by unions. In addition to union members, this category includes workers who report no union affiliation but whose jobs are covered by a union contract. Iowa is one of 22 states with a right-to-work law; the Iowa law was enacted in 1947.