Wednesday, Feb 6 2013 3:36PM

The jobless rate in most rural and exurban communities remained unchanged in December.

Months of falling unemployment rates in rural areas came to a stop in December, where rates remained largely unchanged from November's figures, according to the Daily Yonder.

The news source analyzed data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and found that rural counties had a 7.3 percent unemployment rate during the last month of 2012, while the rate for exurban counties stood at 6.8 percent. Although these rates remained steady, they are notably better than where unemployment stood during the same period last year, in which 8.1 percent of rural residents and 7.7 percent of exurban residents were jobless.

Rural jobless rates vary widely by state, with some such as California and Arizona, carrying double-digit unemployment figures of 11.2 and 10.4 percent, respectively. California, Nevada and Oregon also have the highest exurban rates in the country. Many rural states, despite making some gains, still carried higher jobless numbers than the national rate, which stood at 7.8 percent in December. For example, the unemployment figure for rural counties in Alaska was 8.6 percent and 9.3 percent for Nevada rural communities.

In other areas, the rates were lower than the national average. Hawaii boasted a jobless rate of 6.5 percent, while Montana's rate fell even lower at 6.3 percent. 

For more information, check out this resource: The Daily Yonder