Unemployment for Washington and contiguous counties increased for the second month in a row this June.

Iowa Workforce Development states that Washington County’s unemployment rate increased from 3.6% in May to 4% in June. For surrounding counties, rates moved from 3.7-4% in Louisa, 4-4.6% in Henry, 4.1-4.8% in Jefferson, 4-4.8% in Keokuk, 3.9-4.5% in Iowa, and 3.8-4.4% in Johnson. Unemployment ticked up slightly for Iowa and the U.S. in the last month, from 3.9 to 4% and 5.8 to 5.9%, respectively. The total number of working Iowans increased by 3,800 in the last month to 1,587,800, which is 59,300 higher than June of 2020. The state’s jobless rate was 7.1% in June of 2020, and Washington County’s was 4.9%.