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• Unemployment rates climb higher

Unemployment in Wisconsin increased to 8.3 percent in December, according to statistics released by the Department of Workforce Development.

The rate is about 2.5 percent higher than a year ago and about 0.4 points higher than November's rate.

In St. Croix County, the December unemployment rate creeped up to 7.3 percent, up from the rate of 7.0 in November. That compares to an unemployment rate of 5.6 percent in December of 2008.

In Pierce County, the unemployment rate remained lower than much of the state at 6.4 percent in December. That was slightly higher than the November rate of 6.1 percent and higher that the December 2008 rate of 5.4.

Polk County's rate jumped to 10.2 percent in December, compared to 9.3 percent in November. The December 2008 rate was 7.5 percent.

December's national unemployment rate was reported at 9.7 percent, which is 2.6 percent higher than a year ago when it was 7.1 percent.

According to the statistics, Wisconsin has lost about 120,000 jobs over the past year.