Some welcome good news for local residents: the unemployment rate is down in Maryland and D.C., the U.S. Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Tuesday.

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The positive trend is sweeping across the country as unemployment rates fell in 37 states. The national unemployment rate in December was down by 8.5 percent, down by 0.9 percent from December 2010.

The jobless rate in D.C. for December was 10.4 percent—down from 10.6 percent in November, but higher than the 9.6 percent jobless rate in D.C. a year earlier. Maryland's unemployment rate was 6.7 percent in December—down from 6.9 percent in November and down from 7.4 percent a year ago.

Virginia's unemployment rate, however remained unchanged from the 6.2 percent it was in November—but, it is down from the 6.6 percent it was in December 2010.

Across the country, Nevada continued to record the highest unemployment rate among the states, 12.6 percent in December. California posted the next highest rate, 11.1 percent, the bureau said.