SIOUX CITY - The November numbers are in and unemployment fell for the first time in years. The nation's unemployment rate was the lowest its been since March 2009.
Sioux City's Target hires about 80 people to work the holiday shopping season. They began the last week in October and work through the second or third week in January. However, that doesn't mean a good chunk of those seasonal workers lose a job after the hustling shopping time ends.
"Every holiday season our sales pick up and our business always picks up and we try to cater to our guests as much as possible. So it's important that we staff our store for our guests," said J.T. Yates, Target's Human Resources Manager.
Target's employees have been hard at work, sharing the floor with more co-workers this time of year.
"I know last year we probably only brought on two-thirds of the team we have this year and that's because we didn't need them, but it's because the applicant flow wasn't there," said Yates.
The nation's number of workers without a job dropped to 8.6 percent last month. Even Iowa's 5 point 1 percent in October is the lowest the state has seen all year.
"We've partnered with a lot of community organizations helping people find employment to see if we can help get those people back into work," said Yates.
He said he's always looking to hire and he tries to keep 30 to 40 percent of Target's seasonal workers after the holidays.
"We always try to keep on as many of those team members as we can based on their availability, based on whether they want to stay or not," said Yates.
Target said there's about six positions right now. The store also told KMEG 14 there will be more job openings after the holiday season because some people go back to school or just prefer to stay part time.
The Iowa Work Force Development in Siouxland said that unemployment rate drop is a little misleading. That's because many people have stopped looking for jobs. Actually, less people in Iowa had a job in October compared to January's numbers.
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