DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Iowa’s preliminary unemployment rate dropped to 2.6 percent in July, tying it with South Dakota for the second-lowest rate in the nation.

Iowa Workforce Development said in a news release Friday that the rate was an 18-year low. Hawaii had the nation’s lowest rate last month: 2.1 percent.

Iowa’s July rate compares to a national rate of 3.9 percent last month, down from 4 percent in June.

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