Mo. unemployment rate hits decade-high level

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The state's unemployment rate in July climbed to its highest mark in at least a decade. U.S. Department of Labor figures reported Friday showed that the number of people employed in Missouri dropped by 7,700 as the unemployment rate jumped to 6.4 percent. The figures are preliminary and are often adjusted later. The labor department tracks unemployment rates going back to January 1998. Last month's unemployment rate is the highest for that period.