FRANKFORT, Ky. — Unemployment rates fell in every Kentucky county in December, according to figures released Thursday by the state Education and Labor Cabinet. Locally, jobless rates fell drastically to levels more in line with the state rate.

Pike County, which was the only county in our region to see November rates rise year over year, had the steepest drop in its jobless rate, plummeting from 7.2 percent to 4.6 percent.

Most other counties in our region saw their rates fall by about a point or more. The lone exception was Magoffin County, which only dropped 0.2 percent. Magoffin also has the highest unemployment rate in the state, at 7.4 percent.

The statewide jobless rate is 4.4 percent.