Washington County’s unemployment rate dropped to 5% in October according to data from the Iowa Workforce Development. Washington County has the second lowest unemployment rate in eastern Iowa behind neighboring Johnson County. Out of the estimated 600 unemployed Washington County residents, only 176 were receiving benefits, which is down from 215 in September. The statewide estimate of people receiving unemployment benefits fell from 112,800 in September to 112,400 in October. To learn more about Iowa’s unemployment rates, see http://www.iowaworkforce.org/lmi/laborforce/locallaborforce.html ^[1].