Iowa’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose in July from 5.1 to 5.3 percent, according to a report released Friday by the Iowa Workforce Development Office.

The July figures monitoring the rate for individual counties is not yet available, but in June Jasper County’s unemployment rate stood at 6.9 percent.

Iowa’s 5.3 percent rate still sits far below federal jobs numbers, which ticked up slightly in July from 8.2 to 8.3 percent. Iowa’s unemployment rate in July 2011 was at 6 percent. Iowa Workforce Development Director Teresa Wahlert said in a statement today that the employment picture still looks considerably better for Iowans than this time last year.