Unemployment Rate in the St. Cloud Metro Rises in December

UNDATED - The unemployment rate for the St. Cloud metro area went up in December. The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development says we were at 3.9 percent in December, that's up from the 3.3 percent we had in November.

The local unemployment rate is now slightly higher than the statewide average of 3.6 percent. But, we're still doing much better than the national average of 5.6 percent.

The local numbers are from December, and don't yet reflect the number of people laid off this month due to the several retailers and restaurants that have closed in the past few weeks.