Iowa's Q4 AIM Work Force Index Nation's Eighth Best:
Q4 Summary
- Iowa's WFI ranked 8th best in the nation for the fourth quarter, 2014.
- Iowa's job market, based on online openings, is 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 Finance, Engineering, and then Information Technology positions.
Iowa WFI. AIM's quarter IV Work Force Index (WFI) was a very strong 79.2 which was down slightly from 82.9 for quarter III. 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 79.2, Iowa's WFI is in a range indicating healthy on-line job openings.
On-Line Openings. For quarter IV, online job postings listed the largest number of open positions in absolute numbers in 1) Management, followed by 2) Sales, and 3) Customer Services positions. As a share of employment, the largest numbers of job openings in descending order were in: 1) Finance, 2) Engineering, and 3) Information Technology.
State Rankings. In terms of Work Force Indices among the states, North Dakota ranked number one with the highest WFI. North Dakota was followed by Minnesota at number two, Nebraska at three, Kansas at four, and Delaware at five. The state with the lowest index was Maine, followed by California at 49, and Alaska at 48. Rounding out the bottom five states were New York at 47 and Mississippi at 46. Iowa ranked as the 8 best in the nation for fourth quarter of 2014 which was a slight deterioration from its third quarter ranking of 5th.
