Kootenai County's unemployment rate dropped from 11.8 percent in July to 11.6 percent in August, according to a report released this morning by the Idaho Department of Labor.

Coeur d'Alene's rate remained at 11.5 percent last month, while Post Falls' increased from 12.5 to 12.8.

Meanwhile, Idaho's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped two-tenths of a percentage point in August, falling to its lowest level in 15 months.

Although the rate was estimated at 9.2 percent - the lowest since May 2010 - 70,000 people were still out of work around the state.

Benewah County's rate dropped from 14.9 to 14.3.

The number of workers statewide with jobs declined for the third straight month, dropping below 689,000 for the first time since March. Nearly 2,400 workers dropped out of the labor force in August, the second largest one-month drop on record. The largest was 2,600 in July.

 Employers expanded payrolls by just 1,800, matching the gain from July to August in 2010 but far below the prerecession average of 3,300 new jobs. New hires in August totaled 14,500, above the past two years but well below the prerecession norm of 18,400. The  Conference Board, a business think tank, estimated there were 3.7 unemployed Idaho workers for every job listed in August, the third month in a row that ratio has increased.

 The production side of the economy turned in a second straight month of better-than-expected job creation to keep total production jobs above the year-earlier levels. But that was partially offset by less-than-average performance in the service sector, which was hampered by another modest decline in government.

That kept the overall job picture sluggish. A total of 607,000 nonfarm jobs in August was still 0.4 percent below August 2010. Since July 2010, current month jobs have ranged from 0.6 percent above to 0.6 percent below the year-earlier levels.