POST FALLS - When Greg Jones heard that Kootenai County's unemployment rate dropped three-tenths to 8.7 percent in October, the job seeker was puzzled.

"I wish it would trickle down to me," the Post Falls man said on Friday outside the Idaho Department of Labor after searching online for jobs. "I keep hearing things are getting better, but, if it is, I'm not seeing it."

Jones said he has been searching for a retail management position for six months, but to no avail.

"I'll probably have to grab a temporary job to help get me through the winter," he said.

While some job hunters remain frustrated, there are positive signs of recovery.

October marked the fifth straight month the county's jobless rate didn't have an increase, according to statistics released by the Department of Labor on Friday.

"I think it's good news thus far, but I think the overall sentiment is that people are moving forward with much trepidation," said Alivia Metts, Labor's regional economist.

The rate is as low as it's been since March when it was 8.4. It dipped as low as 7.9 in January. Last October the rate was 10.7.

"Manufacturing and health care have been helping Kootenai County slowly crawl out of the depths of the recession," Metts said. "As consumer confidence continues to rebound, so does retail and leisure and hospitality. Both industries were up the first half of the year compared to the same time last year.

"A true (indication) will be through the holiday shopping season. I'll be looking at taxable sales closely in the coming months."

Job openings listed through the local Department of Labor office were up 32 percent from 380 in September to 500 in October.

"Much of the job openings were from temporary services looking for either production workers, holiday workers or openings in the financial sector," Metts said. "We had a good construction year last year about this time so it's hard to see construction performing as well as it did last year."

The number of building permits through the county continue to increase, however. Through September, permits are up by 66 percent, according to the Bureau of Census. There were 406 issued last year at this time and there were 672 this year.

The state's rate fell a tenth to 7.0 - the lowest it has been in 3.5 years. It has dropped nearly two percentage points since the post-recession high of 8.9 percent in July 2011.

The lower rate was the result of another 1,100 workers leaving the state labor force, according to the Idaho Department of Labor. October marked the fifth straight month of labor force decline.

"I would say that (the declines) give others more opportunity - especially with the fact that job openings have increased," Metts said.

The national rate rose a tenth to 7.9 percent in October. Idaho's rate has been lower than the national rate since September 2001.

Benewah County is among 10 rural counties that posted double-digit rates in October. It's rate is up a tenth at 12.4.

On the state level, more than 7,000 workers have left the labor force since May. The only other year the labor force was smaller in October than May was 1980 between the 1980 and 1981 recessions.

Food manufacturers boosted employment more than 3 percent from September, pushing total employment in the typically higher-paying manufacturing sector up nearly a full percent. Good weather through much of the month kept seasonal construction layoffs to a minimum while retailers and government at all levels held steady over the month.

Health care and private education hired at just under their normal rates for October, but payrolls fell more than normal in food services and other leisure enterprises and in professional and business services.

Twenty four of Idaho's 44 counties posted higher rates in October than September.

Franklin and Oneida counties had the lowest rate at 4.1, while resource-reliant Adams County continued to have the highest rate at 18.4.