Unemployment claims are decreasing in some areas while soaring in others, highlighting the currently uneven state of the U.S.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped by 5,000 to a seasonally adjusted 227,000 for the week ending July 5, the Labor Department reported on July 10.

U.S. applications for unemployment benefits fell last week, remaining in the historically healthy range of the past couple years.

Initial jobless claims measure the number of people who file for unemployment for the first time in a given week. In the week ...