The unemployment picture in St. Lawrence County improved a little from February to March, but the rate sits at the same spot it did a year ago, according to the latest figures from the state Department of Labor.

While St. Lawrence County's unemployment rate dipped slightly in March, its immediate neighbors to the east and west fared about the same.

The jobless rate in St. Lawrence County decreased from 11.3 percent in February to 11.0 percent in March. It stands at the same point it did last March, 11.0 percent.

To our east in Franklin County, the rate also dropped .3 percent, from 10.7 percent in February to 10.4 percent for March. But the rate there has jumped by eight-tenths of a percent in the last year, from 9.6 percent in March 2011.

To our west, Jefferson County's rate in March was down six-tenths of a percent, from 11.7 percent in February to 11.1 percent in March. But as in St. Lawrence County, the rate of joblessness this March was the same as it was last March.

In the state as a whole, the rate dropped half a point in March, from 9.2 percent in February to 8.7 percent last month. That is still higher than it was last March, when it stood at 8.2 percent.

The national rate has dropped from last March, from 9.2 percent in 2011 to 8.4 percent in March 2012.