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DES MOINES, IOWA -- Unemployment in Iowa remained at 6.8 percent in August, with state officials saying the numbers show "modest improvement."
   
Iowa Workforce Development also reported Tuesday that the 6.8 percent unemployment rate was a half-percent higher than August of last year, when unemployment was 6.3 percent. There were about 114,200 unemployed workers in Iowa during August, about 900 more than in July.
   
There were 1,558,200 employed Iowans in August. That's 10,800 fewer than August of 2009.
   
Iowa Workforce Development director Elisabeth Buck says corporate balance sheets are in better shape, "making it more likely that hiring will strengthen."
   
The U.S. unemployment rate in August was 9.6 percent.

Find more on the Iowa Workforce Information website.