UNEMPLOYMENT RATE DROPS IN UNION, WALLOWA COUNTIES

The unemployment rate for Union County fell to 6.7 percent for April, the lowest it has been since December, when it was 5.7 percent, the Oregon Employment Department has reported.

In Wallowa County, the April unemployment rate was 15 percent, the lowest since the 14.3 percent in January.

Those numbers compare to the statewide unemployment rate of 7.5 percent for April and 6.0 percent nationally for the same month.

The actual numbers for the last two months:

Union County

April March

Labor force: 12,244 12,234

Employed: 11,424 11,261

Unemployed: 820 973

Wallowa County

Labor force: 3,268 3,259

Employed: 2,779 2,707

Unemployed: 489 552

Unemployment rate by months

Union Wallowa

County County State

Dec. 5.7 9.8 7.8

Jan. 7.9 14.3 8.1

Feb. 8.3 16.3 8.1

March 8.0 17.0 7.9

April 6.7 15.0 7.5

UNEMPLOYMENT RATES

BY STATES FOR APRIL

Unemployment rates, seasonally adjusted, by states, for April:

Alabama 5.6% Alaska 6.6% Arizona 5.7% Arkansas 5.3% California 6.4% Colorado 5.3% Connecticut 3.8%

Delaware 4.1% D.C. 6.4%

Florida 5.1% Georgia 4.6% Hawaii 4.3%

Idaho 5.3% Illinois 6.3% Indiana 5.1%

Iowa 3.6% Kansas 4.4% Kentucky 5.3%

Louisiana 5.8% Maine 4.0% Maryland 5.4% Mass. 4.7%

Michigan 6.0%

Minn. 4.3% Mississippi 7.0%

Missouri 5.2% Montana 4.5% Nebraska 3.8% Nevada 5.5% N.Hampshire 4.0%

New Jersey 5.5%

New Mexico 5.9% New York 6.1% N. Carolina 6.9%

N.Dakota 3.6%

Ohio 5.8% Oklahoma 4.4%

Oregon 7.5% Penn 5.4%

Puerto Ri 12.3%

Rhode Is. 4.5%

S. Carolina 5.8%

S. Dakota 3.4%

Tennessee 5.3%

Texas 6.1%

Utah 5.7% Vermont 3.9% Virginia 4.6% Washington 7.1%

West Virginia 6.0% Wisconsin 5.4%

Wyoming 4.4%