Iowa Workforce Development Communications
For Immediate Release
Date: August 28, 2018
Contact: Cory Kelly
Email: cory.kelly@iwd.iowa.gov
DES MOINES, IOWA – Iowa Workforce Development officials announced today that the unemployment tax rate table will remain unchanged for 2019. Tax rates will be the second lowest allowed by law.
Iowa law requires Iowa Workforce Development establish the tax table to determine the unemployment tax rate for eligible employers each year. The unemployment insurance rate table trigger formula is primarily based on the trust fund balance, unemployment benefit payment history and covered wage growth. The formula is designed to enable the trust fund to keep pace with potential liabilities as covered employment and wages grow.
Based on this formula, the contribution rate table will remain in Table 7 of 8 possible tables (with 8 being the most favorable) in 2019.
Iowa Workforce Development Director Beth Townsend praised the vitality of the economy in Iowa that has seen continuous low unemployment rates around the state over the past 12 months.
“Maintaining a tax rate of 1.25 percent for Iowa employers will help to insure a healthy unemployment insurance trust fund at the same time as minimizing taxes for employers who have employed more Iowans than ever before,” Townsend said.
Iowa Workforce Development is the state agency charged with collecting unemployment insurance taxes from employers and operating Iowa’s unemployment insurance payment program for workers. Through a network of IowaWORKS Centers, the agency also job seekers with opportunities and employers with workforce solutions.