Statistics released by the state’s Employment Security Department show Lewis County’s unemployment rate rose slightly in August as the county maintained its status as having one of the highest unemployment rates in the state.

    After a drop from 12.9 percent to 12.1 percent from June to July, the county’s unemployment rate rose to 12.3 in August. Just under 4,000 people in the county are unemployed.

    The county had the fifth-worst unemployment rate in the state, according to the state’s Employment Security Department. Clark County had the highest rate of unemployed at 13.9 percent.

    August’s numbers are nearly double what they were at this time last year, when the Lewis County unemployment rate was 7.8 percent.