JACKSON, Miss.--For the first time in several months the unemployment rate in the Magnolia State has dropped more than just a tenth of a percentage point. In fact, it dropped three tenths. The rate for October was 8.9 percent. That means about 119,000 were jobless for the month.

But, the 8.9 percent rate is still significantly lower than the 10.7 percent rate from October 2011. Mississippi still has unemployment about one percentage point more than the nation as a whole, which averaged at 7.9 percent jobless.

The job sectors that showed the biggest gains in employment numbers were manufacturing, professional and business services and government. The sector that saw the biggest losses was leisure and hospitality. That's according to stats from the Miss. Dept. of Employment Security.

Rankin County had the lowest unemployment rate at 5.2 percent, followed by Madison and Lafayette. Clay County had the highest unemployment rate at 16.4 percent, followed by Holmes and Noxubee. Those counties traditionally hold the lowest spots on the 82 county list.