Cowlitz County’s unemployment rate rose a half a percentage point in August to 13.3 percent, the state’s Employment Security Department reported Tuesday.

The county’s August rate is up from 12.8 percent in July and nearly five points above the 8.4 percent unemployment from the previous year.

For the second straight month, Cowlitz County’s jobless rate was lower than neighboring Clark County’s, which rose eight-tenths of a point to 13.9 percent — the highest in the state.

Cowlitz County lost 200 non-agricultural jobs in August. Construction was down 100 jobs from July and 800 jobs from the previous year. Manufacturing remained unchanged month-to-month but lost 700 jobs over the year. Trade, transportation and utilities gained 100 jobs over the month.

About 6,000 Cowliz County residents were unemployed last month, but less than half are filing continued unemployment claims. About 300 county residents are exhausting their state unemployment benefits each month, but the are eligible for state extensions and federal benefits for another year.

The state’s jobless also went up, rising three-tenths of a point to 9.2 percent in August.