ITHACA, N.Y. (WHCU) — Jobless rates are down in the Southern Tier.

The New York State Labor Department has released unemployment numbers for December, and all local counties fall below the statewide average of 3.8 percent. Tompkins County is 2.4 percent, Tioga County comes in at 2.7 percent, and Cortland County falls just below the state’s average at 3.7 percent.

Across the US, the national unemployment rate for the final month of 2022 was 3.3 percent, down from the 3.7 percent that was reported in December 2021.