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By MIKE SCHNEIDER and MARTIN CRUTSINGER, AP

Americans' economic struggles persisted in July, largely unchanged from the previous month, according to The Associated Press' monthly analysis of conditions around the country.

Nationally, unemployment, foreclosure and bankruptcy rates didn't budge from June. Yet the economic pain varied among localities, depending on their economic bases. Stress eased in counties whose work forces lean toward areas like agriculture, mining, wholesale trade and finance.

By contrast, counties with many employees in the retail and real estate industries suffered higher distress in July, according to a statistical analysis by AP.

Economic stress declined month to month in July in about 54 percent of the nation's 3,141 counties and in 24 of the 50 states, the AP's Economic Stress Index shows.