The Daily Freeman is reporting unemployment rates in the Mid-Hudson region were sharply lower in Sept. 2014 than Sept. 2013, the state Department of Labor reported Tue., Oct. 22. Four of the seven counties in the region had jobless rates below 6 percent last month. Columbia Co. had the lowest unemployment rate overall, at 4.6 percent, down from 5.9 percent the year before. Greene Co. reported a jobless rate of 5.7 percent, down from 7.4 percent in 2013. The statewide unemployment rate was 5.6 percent late month; the national rate was 5.9 percent. The report released Tuesday was issued five days after the Department of Labor said all counties in the Mid-Hudson region except Delaware and Sullivan had more jobs at the end of September 2014 than they did a year earlier. Unemployment rates can fall even when jobs are lost because the rates are based on people receiving unemployment benefits, not on the actual number of people out of work. Read the full story in the Daily Freeman.