Some counties in the Raccoon River Valley area saw a slight increase in unemployment to end 2017.

According to Iowa Workforce Development, Guthrie County saw the biggest jump in unemployment from November to December of 0.3-percent to 2.6-percent. Greene County had a 0.1-percent increase from November to December to 2.0-percent, while Dallas County remained unchanged at 1.8-percent unemployment.

All three counties are doing much better, in terms of unemployment, compared to last year at this time. In December 2016, Dallas County was at 2.5-percent, Greene County was at 2.3-percent and Guthrie County was at 3.3-percent.

Iowa’s unemployment rate to close out 2017 was 2.8-percent, while the national percentage was 4.1-percent.