The Daily Freeman is reporting unemployment rates in the region remained essentially the same from July 2016 to July 2017, the state Department of Labor said Tue., Aug. 22. The jobless rates in Columbia, Duchess and Ulster counties did not change. Columbia County's 3.6 percent unemployment rate in July 2017 was the lowest in the state. The highest was 6.9 percent in St. Lawrence County. In Greene County, the jobless rate increased to 4.9 percent from 4.7 percent, the year before. The statewide jobless rate in July was 4.9 percent, down from 5 percent in July 2016, the Department of Labor reported. Read the full story in the Daily Freeman.