Local unemployment numbers released

MADISON (AP) - The cities of Beloit and Racine continue to have the highest unemployment rates in the state.

The Department of Workforce Development said Wednesday that Beloit's jobless rate dropped slightly from last month to 17.4 percent in August, but it still leads the state. Racine is second highest with a 16.2 percent rate, also a slight drop.

Statewide the unemployment rate in August was 8.4 percent.

DWD Secretary Robert Gassman says all metropolitan areas and all but three of the state's 72 counties showed drops in the unemployment rate. She says she is seeing "encouraging signs that the economy is improving."

In Northeast Wisconsin, Menominee County had the area’s highest unemployment rate at 17.8 percent. Door County had the lowest rate at 6.7 percent. Among cities, Neenah had a 7.7 percent rate, Oshkosh was at 8.6 percent, Appleton and Fond du Lac were at 11 percent, Sheboygan at 11.5 percent, Manitowoc was at 11.7 percent and Green Bay at 11.8 percent.