West Virginia's seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate fell from 7.6 percent in August to 7.3 percent in September, according to data from Workforce West Virginia.
The 0.3 percent drop in the West Virginia's unemployment follows eight months in which the state saw its unemployment rate rise from 5.9 percent in January to the 7.6 percent high in August.
But while the improved unemployment rate is the first positive sign in months, the data also shows that the state lost 11,400 non-farm payroll jobs compared to September 2014, and the state still lags behind other parts of the country, which has an average unemployment rate of 5.1 percent.
Since September 2014, the state has lost 3,700 jobs in mining and logging, 5,800 jobs in construction, 3,000 jobs in hospitality, 800 government jobs and 500 financial positions.
The state did gain 500 jobs in manufacturing, 1,600 jobs in transpiration and utilities and 1,800 in education and health services.
The monthly unemployment report builds upon a recent economic report from the West Virginia University Bureau of Business and Economic Research that suggested the state could suffer from an unemployment rate about 7 percent throughout the near future, into early 2016.