Associated Press - October 27, 2009 3:04 PM ET

TWIN FALLS, Idaho (AP) - A new study says communities in the heart of the Idaho dairy industry are, amid falling milk prices, weathering the recession better than other rural regions of the state.

The University of Idaho released the findings of a 2-year study in the report, "Community Level Impacts of IdahoÂ’s Changing Dairy Industry," on Monday.

The study shows the unemployment rate in Twin Falls, Jerome and Gooding counties ranged from 6.4 percent to 7.2 percent in August, compared to 8.9 percent statewide unemployment rate for that month.

Idaho's unemployment rate dropped slightly, to 8.8 percent, in September.

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