Citrus County's unemployment rate improved only slightly in September, according to the state's Agency for Workforce Innovation.

August figures for Citrus County showed unemployment at 8.4 percent (see story here). The county's unemployment for the same period last year was 5.3 percent.

And while a lower unemployment figure may sound like a bit of good news for Citrus County, there are less workers in the labor force in the county than in August. Statistics show September's labor force at 61,447, and August's labor force at 61,571, a reduction of 124 laborers.

In surrounding counties, the unemployment figures for September are thus:

• Hernando: An increase of .1 percent, to 9.2 percent. The county had an increase in workforce by 336 workers.
• Levy: A decrease of .2 percent, to 7.4 percent. The county had an increase in workforce by 183 workers.
• Marion: A decrease of .1 percent, to 8.5 percent. The county had an increase in workforce by 336 workers.

Statewide, Florida’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for September is 6.6 percent. This represents 613,000 jobless out of a labor force of 9,338,000.

The unemployment rate remains the same as the revised August rate of 6.6 percent, and is up 2.4 percentage points from the September 2007 rate.

Florida’s August and September unemployment rates are the highest since October 1994, which was also 6.6 percent. The state’s current unemployment rate is 0.5 percentage point higher than the national unemployment rate of 6.1 percent.