County unemployment numbers hold steady in July

It was a ?good news, bad news? scenario for Henry County unemployment in July. The good news is that the jobless percentage didn?t increase from 7.4 percent, the bad news is that it didn?t decline either.

Iowa Workforce Development statistics listed the county with a labor force of 9,490 during July. Of that number, 710 were unemployed.

Most of the county?s neighbors show a slight decline in unemployment numbers in July. The state?s unemployment rate, however, remained unchanged at 6 percent.

Following are the unemployment numbers for surrounding counties (June figure listed first followed by July?s rate): Appanoose, 7.0, 6.9; Davis, 7.1, 6.7; Jefferson, 7.1, 6.8; Johnson, 4.8, 4.9; Keokuk, 6.4, 6.3; Lee, 8.7, 9.0; Muscatine, 6.3, 6.0; Van Buren, 7.1, 7.0; Wapello, 7.8, 7.3; Washington, 5.1, 4.9.

Burlington?s unemployment in July was 7.8 percent, a drop of three-tenths of a point, The Fort Madison-Keokuk corridor?s unemployment increased by one-tenth of a point to 9.2 percent. Muscatine checked in with 6.1 percent unemployment, an improvement from the 6.4 percent in June. Ottumwa was at 7.6 percent in July, compared to 8.2 percent in June.

Unemployment nationally fell from 9.2 percent to 9.1 percent in July.

Lyon County, located in extreme northwest Iowa, a stone?s throw from South Dakota, continued to have the state?s lowest unemployment at 3.3 percent. Hamilton County in north-central Iowa (Webster City is located in that county) replaced Lee County with the dubious distinction of the highest unemployment at 10.8 percent. Largely responsible for the unemployment increase in Hamilton County is the closure of an Electrolux plant in Webster City.