The Iowa Workforce Development officer reported Thursday the unemployment rate for Hamilton County in December took a drop of 2.3 percent for the month. The November rate for Hamilton County was 2.5 percent. There were 7,730 people employed in Hamilton County for December while there were 180 people without work. The unemployment rates for surrounding counties for December include Boone County at 2.7 percent, Franklin County at 3.0 percent, Hardin County at 3.2 percent, Story at 2.4 percent, Webster County at 3.2 percent and Wright County at 2.6 percent. Iowa’s unemployment rate for December stood at 3.5 percent. There were 1,688,700 people employed during December in Iowa with 61,400 unemployed.