The state Labor Department today released local area unemployment rates for July 2012. In Columbia County the unemployment rate rose .7 percent, from 7.2 percent in July 2011 to 7.9 percent, last month. In Greene County, the unemployment rate increased a full 10 percent, from 8.4 percent in July 2011 to the current rate of 9.4 percent. The lowest unemployment rates were reported in Hamilton, Tompkins, Yates, Putnam, Ontario and Saratoga counties. Statewide, the percentage of job seekers re-entering the labor force, or entering the labor force for the first time, increased 9.8 percent from July 2011 to July 2012. By comparison, the nation showed a 0.4 percent increase during the same period.