Iowa Continues to have a lower unemployment rate than the rest of the country. Kerry Koonce with Iowa Work force development says it climbed slightly in October to 6.7 percent…while the U.S. rate exceeded ten percent for the first time in nearly three decades. Koonce says education and healthcare posted the biggest gains in Iowa, while the largest losses were in trade and transportation. Washington County’s unemployment rate was nearly two percentage points behind the statewide average at 4.5 percent.