POST FALLS - Kootenai County's unemployment rate dropped eight-tenths of a percent to 6.6 percent in November, making it the lowest it has been since October 2008, according to an Idaho Department of Labor report released on Friday.

Alivia Metts, IDL regional economist, said she believes the mild winter has helped the local employment scene.

"The drop could have occurred because of how unseasonably warm it was, allowing for construction crews and other seasonal workers to work through the month," she said.

Kootenai County's rate also dropped eight-tenths from October to November last year, but it was revised during the following months to a three-tenths decline.

"That (three-tenths) is more typical for this time of year," Metts said.

Idaho's jobless rate fell from 6.7 percent to 6.1 percent in November, the largest one-month decline on record. The November rate matched the post-recession low posted last spring.

Before November, the largest one-month swing in the Idaho rate was three-tenths of a percentage point.

The national rate decreased from 7.3 percent to 7 percent in November.

Coeur d'Alene's rate fell from 7.1 percent to 6.2. The only large city in the state to see an increase was Post Falls, where the rate edged up a tenth to 7.5 percent.

Metts said more seasonal layoffs is the reason Post Falls' rate is noticeably higher than Coeur d'Alene's.

Employers across Idaho maintained payrolls at above-average levels during the month. Hiring activity - the highest since 2007 - was 6 percent ahead of a year earlier at nearly 15,000, primarily to fill existing jobs.

In early 2014, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics will adjust the 2013 monthly unemployment rates. Using more updated statistical information could revise November's decline from October, labor analysts say.

About 3,800 more Idahoans were at work in November with total unemployment dropping to 47,300, the lowest level since last spring, according to the report. Last year, Idaho's unemployment rate was 6.5 percent with more than 50,000 people out of work. This year, 1,000 more people were working than in November 2012 when employment growth averaged 1,200 a month over the previous year.

Non-farm jobs totaled nearly 648,000 in November, up 2.1 percent over last year and four-tenths of a percentage point higher than the national growth rate. Slightly stronger retail hiring in November offset hiring activity at hotels and restaurants, which have been steadily bringing on seasonal workers to handle any rebound in businesses. During the initial recovery, those and other businesses had been relying on their permanent payrolls to handle any post-recession increases in customers.

All of Idaho's 44 counties posted declines in unemployment rates from October to November, as did all five metropolitan areas.