A small increase in the unemployment rate in Hastings, Prince Edward and Lennox and Addington counties and other parts of Eastern Ontario.
Statistics Canada says the figure was 8.6 per cent last month, compared to 8.4 in June.
The area surveyed also includes Renfrew and Frontenac Counties.
Statscan says 20,300 people in the five counties were unemployed in July, up by 800 from the month before.
The local unemployment rate in July, 2008, was only 5.9 per cent.
