Jackson County’s unemployment rate stood at 3.4% in July, according to the Indiana Department of Workforce Development’s latest report released Monday.

Overall, 22,578 county residents were on the job during the month. That’s 656 less than in July 2022 when 23,234 county residents were working. The jobless rate at that time was 3.2%.

The July rate, which is preliminary, was 0.3% higher than the final 3.1% rate for June.

The number of county residents reporting they were looking for work in July was 806, compared to 765 who were looking for work during the same month a year earlier.

The county’s labor force was 23,384 in July, which is 615 less than labor force of 23,999 during the same month in 2022.

The county’s unemployment rate for July was lower than the state’s rate of 4% and the national rate of 3.8%.

Other nearby counties and their preliminary unemployment rates for July were Bartholomew, 3%; Brown, 3.2%; Jennings, 3.6%; Lawrence, 4.4%; Monroe, 4.5%; Scott, 4.1%; and Washington, 3.7%.

Gibson County had the lowest rate in the state at 2.9% in July, and Lake County had the highest at 5.8%.