County jobless rate shows slight drop; state unemployment rises

Henry County unemployment bucked state trend ? slightly ? in July, according to official statistics released this week by Iowa Workforce Development.

Unemployment decreased by one-tenth of a percent ? 5.6 to 5.5 percent ? in Henry County in July, the report showed. Meanwhile, statewide unemployment rose from 4.6 to 4.8 percent.

Most of Henry County?s neighbors also saw a modest drop in the jobless rate. Following are the latest unemployment figures for neighboring counties, multi-micropolitan areas and cities (June rate followed by July numbers).

Counties: Appanoose, 6.3, 6.1; Davis, 5.5, 5.4; Des Moines, 6.4, 6.2; Jefferson, 5.8, 5.6; Johnson, 3.8, 4.0; Lee, 7.1, 7.3; Louisa, 5.2, 5.0; Muscatine, 4.9, 4.9; Van Buren, 5.8, 5.6; Wapello, 6.1, 6.2; Washington, 3.7, 3.6.

Multi-county micropolitan areas: Burlington, 6.4, 6.4; Ft. Madison-Keokuk, 7.3, 7.5; Muscatine, 5.0, 4.9.

Cities: Burlington, 6.7, 6.3; Ottumwa, 6.5, 6.4.