State unemployment drops; local counties see rise

Missouri's unemployment rate fell three-tenths of a percentage point in June to 2.8%, according to newly available figures from the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.

The U.S. jobless rate for last month was 3.6%, unchanged since March.

Locally, only rates for May are currently available.

• Cape Girardeau County: 2.5%, up from 2% in April.
• Perry County: 2.5%, up from 1.9%.
• Scott County: 2.5%, up from 2.2%.

The highest jobless rates in the state are in the Bootheel counties of Pemiscot (4.7%) and Dunklin (4.4%).

Two other counties showed May joblessness above 4%: Taney County in southwestern Missouri (4.3%) and the Lead Belt county of Iron (4.2%).

Kathy Swan of Cape Girardeau became a member of the state Labor and Industrial Relations Commission (LIRC) on July 16.

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