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OTTUMWA, IOWA -- The employment picture in Southeast Iowa improved slightly in February.

According to data released by Iowa Workforce Development on Friday, the unemployment rate dropped or held steady all across Southeast Iowa, however, any improvement was small.

In Wapello County, the unemployment rate fell from 8.5 percent in January to 8.4 in February.

Jefferson County and the city of Ottumwa saw the biggest improvement, with a half of percent improvement in each case.

Put in a statewide context, the numbers still show the Heartland struggling to keep pace with the rest of the state.

The statewide unemployment rate is 6.1 percent.

And among the state’s largest cities, only Burlington has larger unemployment rate than Ottumwa’s 8.1 percent.

Complete IWD report