BUSINESS MEMO: JOBLESS RATES DOWN

Unemployment rates continue to drop.

Latest figure show that U.S. unemployment for May was 4.8 percent, lowest since 1973.

In Missouri, the rate dropped to 3.8 percent in May, down from 4.2 in April. In Illinois, the rate dipped from 4.8 unemployment in April to 4.4 percent in May.

The Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations shows an estimated number of unemployed people in Missouri at 108,100, down by 13,700 from April figures. The number of employed people is 2,762,100.

Cape Girardeau unemployment remained at 4.1 percent. Lowest unemployment in the Southeast Missouri area was reported in Perry County, at 3.1 percent.

Other unemployment percentages in the area: Bollinger, 7.5 percent; Scott, 5.3 percent; Stoddard, 7.9 percent; Mississippi, 7 percent; New Madrid, 6.8 percent; Madison, 8.2 percent, Pemiscot, 9.1 percent; Butler, 4.2 percent; Dunklin, 6.3 percent; and Ste. Genevieve, 3.4 percent.