The Daily Freeman is reporting unemployment rates were markedly lower in all Mid-Hudson counties in January than they were a year earlier, the state Department of Labor reported Tue., Mar. 10. In Greene County, the rate fell from 8.3 percent to 7 percent, while Columbia County's rate dropped from 6.1 percent to 5.2 percent. Unemployment rates dropped in Ulster and Dutchess counties, as well. The lowest unemployment rate in the state in January was 4.8 percent in Tompkins County; the highest was 9.6 percent in both Bronx and Hamilton counties. The U.S. unemployment rate stands at 5.5 percent.