SIDNEY — Ohio’s unemployment rate was 5.3 percent in September 2017, down .1 percent from August’s 5.4 percent figure.

The September unemployment rate for Ohio rose .3 percent from the September 2016 rate.

Unemployment continues to drop in Shelby County. The September rate, 3.8 percent, fell a full half point from August’s 4.3 percent which was .1 percent lower than July’s rate, according to the latest data from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services Office of Workforce Development, Bureau of Labor Market Information.

The U.S. unemployment rate for September 2017 was 4.1 percent, 0.3 percentage point lower than in August 2017, and .7 percentage point lower than in September 2016.

Among the state’s 88 counties, preliminary September 2017 unemployment rates, not seasonally adjusted, ranged from a low of 2.8 percent in Mercer County to a high of 7.9 percent in Trumbull County. From August, unemployment rates increased in three counties, decreased in 85 counties. The comparable unemployment rate for Ohio was 4.7 percent in September.

Nine counties had unemployment rates at or below 3.5 percent in September. The counties with the lowest rates other than Mercer were Putnam, 3.2 percent; Delaware, Hancock, and Holmes, 3.3 percent; Auglaize, Union, and Wyandot, 3.4 percent; and Madison, 3.5 percent.

Four counties had unemployment rates above 6.5 percent in September. The counties with the highest rates, other than Trumbull were Mahoning, 7.5 percent; Monroe, 7.0 percent; and Meigs, 6.9 percent.

Surrounding counties’ unemployment rates for September (compared to August rates) were as follows: Allen, 4.6 (down from 5.1); Auglaize, 3.4 (down from 3.9); Champaign, 3.8 (down from 4.4); Darke, 3.7 (down from 4.3); Logan 3.8 (down from 4.2); Mercer, 2.8 (down from 3.2); and Miami, 3.9 (down from 4.5).