Fewer workers in most of America's larger cities were unemployed last month compared with a year earlier, according to a report issued Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Labor.

All of the Iowa cities surveyed - Ames, Cedar Rapids, Des Moines-West Des Moines, Dubuque, Iowa City, Sioux City and Waterloo-Cedar Falls - showed drops in unemployment rates.

Des Moines showed the greatest percentage drop of the Iowa cities, as the unemployment rate dropped from 6 percent in December 2011 to 5.3 percent.