Missouri's unemployment rate dropped slightly during July from its already low level for the month of June. The state's seasonally adjusted rate of 2.4% is 1.1-percentage points below the July 1999 rate of 3.5%. Meanwhile, the national unemployment rate remained steady at 4.0%. Of Missouri's neighboring states, only Iowa had a lower unemployment rate for July, at 2.1%
Unemployment levels continue to vary between counties, but not as widely as during the winter months. Counties with the highest levels of unemployment continue to be clustered in the Lower East central region of the State. Stone and Taney Counties in the Branson region again saw spectacularly low levels. Boone County, at 1.1%, led the state. Adair County moved into the runner-up position, at 1.5%, replacing Nodaway County (1.6%). All told, ten counties in Missouri enjoyed unemployment levels below the 2% level in July, up from eight counties in June. (County-level unemployment rates are not seasonally adjusted.)
