Unemployment rates decreased across the Hickory Metro and across much of North Carolina according to the latest update. The report was issued this week by the North Carolina Department of Commerce Labor & Economic Analysis Division and shows the December jobless rates.

Catawba County’s unemployment rate for December is listed at 2.9 percent, down from 3.6 in November. Alexander County shows a jobless rate of 3.2 percent, down from 3.7. Burke County’s December unemployment rate is 2.8 percent, down from 3.6. Caldwell County is at 3 percent even, down from 3.7.

The unemployment rate for the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton Metropolitan Statistical Area or MSA is 2.9 percent, down from 3.6 in November. Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton is tied for the fourth lowest unemployment rate among 15 MSAs in the state.

The statewide unemployment rate is 3.2 percent, down from 3.8 in November. Unemployment rates fell in 96 of North Carolina’s 100 counties and increased in four. Tyrell County shows the highest jobless rate at 7.1 percent and the lowest unemployment rate is shared by four counties, Watauga, Buncombe, Greene, and Orange, they are all at 2.5 percent.