IRON MOUNTAIN — Dickinson County’s jobless rate fell to 7.1% in July, below both the Upper Peninsula rate of 8.2% and the Michigan rate of 9.5%, according to data released by the Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget.

Dickinson County’s rate was down from 9.5% in June and tied with three downstate counties for the third-lowest in the state. Menominee County was the lowest, at 6.6%, followed by Mackinac County at 6.8%.

Labor force levels and jobless rates declined statewide in July, although unemployment rates remained well above year-ago levels, said Jason Palmer, director of the Bureau of Labor Market Information and Strategic Initiatives.

In Dickinson County, the July rate rose just 0.9 percentage points from a year ago. The U.P. rate was up by 2.4 percentage points from July 2019 but down 3.8 percentage points since June of this year.

Iron County’s July jobless rate was 7.8%, compared with 9.9% in June and 5.8% in July 2019.

“Minor job gains were seen in most statewide industries,” Palmer said. “The largest over-the-month increase in nonfarm employment occurred in the state’s leisure and hospitality sector, with an addition of 30,000 jobs.”

Government was the only industry to exhibit a substantial job cut over the month, down by 30,000.

The ongoing impact of the pandemic can be seen by comparing data for May through July with pre-pandemic values in February, Palmer said. Average regional jobless rates for the three-month period between May and July ranged from 11.6% to 18.5% — an increase since February of 6.7 to 14.7 percentage points.

The largest jump in unemployment since February has occurred in the Muskegon area, while the smallest has been in the Upper Peninsula, Palmer noted.

The Upper Peninsula civilian labor force last month numbered 142,700, including 11,700 unemployed. The number of unemployed was up by 3,600 compared with July 2019.

Over the year, all 83 Michigan counties exhibited jobless rate advances in July. The statewide unemployment rate was up by 4.4 percentage points from a year ago.