DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa’s unemployment rate edged up to 5.3 percent in July. State labor officials say the preliminary rate was two-tenths of a point higher than June’s revised rate of 5.1 percent. The rate was 6 percent in July 2011. Iowa Workforce Development says in a report issued Friday that the state gained 2,300 jobs in total nonfarm employment last month after two months of decreases. The state says the gains occurred only in the sectors of wholesale and retail trade, other services, local government and health care. The number of unemployed people in Iowa was estimated at 88,200 in July, compared with 85,300 in June. A year ago, an estimated 99,100 people were unemployed in Iowa.  The national jobless rate rose a tenth of a point in July, to 8.3 percent.

An incident that began with the theft of a motor vehicle from Pottawattamie County, resulted in a chase but no arrest Thursday evening, despite a coordinated effort by several law enforcement agencies. The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office reports Police officers in Harlan observed a vehicle known to have been stolen from Pott. County inside the Harlan city limits. The officers engaged in a pursuit of the vehicle, a 1996 Oldsmobile. The chase continued east onto Oak Road, before the H-PD officers requested assistance from the Shelby County Sheriff’s Department. The officers and deputies lost track of the vehicle however, in the 1200 block of Oak Road.

At around 11:30-p.m., the Sheriff’s Office was alerted to suspicious activity in the 1900 block of Oak Road, where authorities recovered the stolen vehicle. The Sheriff’s office requested and received assistance in locating the suspect, from the Cass County K-9 Unit, along with sheriff’s deputies from Audubon County. Deputies recovered property from the suspect in the area, and cordoned-off a corn field, where the suspect was though to be hiding.

Additional assistance was requested from the Omaha Police Department, which sent their helicopter, “Able 1” to the scene. The chopper was equipped with a FLIR (Forward looking infrared Radar), which detects heat signatures. Despite the concentrated effort, the suspect was never located, and the search called-off during the early morning hours.

An investigation into the theft continues. Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office.