The Daily Freeman is reporting unemployment rates in all local counties were lower in December than in November, the state Department of Labor reported Tues., Jan. 28. The December 2013 jobless rates also were lower than the December 2012 rates. Greene County unemployment last month was 7 percent, down from 7.3 percent in November and 9.6 percent in December 2012. Columbia County's jobless rate was 5.4 percent, down from 5.5 percent a month earlier and 7.3 percent one year before. Unemployment also declined in Delaware, Dutchess, Orange, Sullivan and Ulster counties during the same period. The statewide jobless rate in December was 6.6 percent. Read the full story in the Daily Freeman.