Jackson County’s unemployment rate stood at 2.3% in December, according to the Indiana Department of Workforce Development’s latest report released Wednesday.

Overall, 22,066 county residents were on the job during the month. That’s 1,075 less than in December 2022 when 23,141 county residents were working. The jobless rate at that time was 2.2%.

The December rate, which is preliminary, was 0.6% lower than November’s final rate of 2.9%.

The number of county residents reporting they were looking for work in December was 512, compared to 502 who were looking for work during the same month a year earlier.

The county’s labor force was 22,878 in December, which is 1,066 less than labor force during the same month in 2022.

The county’s unemployment rate for December was lower than the state’s rate of 2.8% and the national rate of 3.5%.

Other nearby counties and their preliminary unemployment rates for December were Bartholomew, 2.4%; Brown, 2.8%; Jennings, 3%; Lawrence, 3.2%; Monroe, 3.5%; Scott, 3%; and Washington, 2.6%.

Daviess County had the lowest rate in the state at 1.9% in December, and Howard County had the highest at 6.4%.