Unemployment rates in southeast Iowa are among the worst in the state.

Numbers released by Iowa Workforce Development for August show that Mahaska County has the highest unemployment rate in the state, at 10.9 percent. Not far behind is Davis County with an unemployment rate of 10.2 percent, and Wapello County at 9.8 percent.

All eight of the counties in the Courier’s coverage area are among the 28 counties in the state with the highest unemployment rates for August — all at 8 percent or higher and all well above the state average of 6.8 percent.

“Truly, southeast Iowa has been hard hit in manufacturing layoffs. That’s been going on for quite some time, and combine that with the lack of job growth,” said Kerry Koonce, spokeswoman for Iowa Workforce Development.

Another factor attributed to the high unemployment numbers is temporary layoffs, which are common in manufacturing jobs, Koonce said.

“This is the area that has really been hurt. And in Mahaska County we export 30 percent of labor outside the county,” said Jon Sullivan, executive director of the Oskaloosa Area Chamber and Development Group.

Sullivan said a lot of residents commute to Pella or Ottumwa for work, though there are other factors that go into the numbers.

“We’re facing the same thing wherever you go; it’s just a little higher here and I think it’s based on the mix of the industry,” Sullivan said.

Mahaska County jumped from an unemployment rate of 7.3 percent in July to 10.9 percent in August. Sullivan said nothing drastic happened in that time that would cause a jump, and he was shocked by the number.

In July, there were 860 people reporting unemployment in Mahaska County. That figure jumped to 1,310 for August, a difference of 450. The majority of those were goods-producing or manufacturing jobs, Koonce said.

“A lot of the people that work here work in advanced manufacturing which are jobs that require certain skills, and when things are going good, those are good jobs,” said John Schroeder, executive director of the Davis County Development Corporation. “But when things turn bad, those are some of the companies hardest hit.”

Schroeder said that many businesses wait until it is absolutely necessary to lay people off and then hold off longer than they have to when hiring people back.

“If a guy runs a business and he has to lay people off, it’s very painful for the person who has to let people go,” he said.

“When things start to get better, you’re reluctant to hire people back quickly because you want to be dogone sure you won’t have to lay people off again.”

A major hail storm hit Davis County in June. Schroeder said it was a terrible thing to happen, but all of the improvements needed for damaged buildings brought work for some people.