McHenry County's unemployment rate tumbled to 7 percent in September, down from 8.9 percent in September 2011, according to preliminary data released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Labor and the Illinois Department of Employment Security.

The county’s rate was its lowest since December 2008, when it was 7 percent. A month earlier, In November 2008, it was 6 percent; in January 2009, it leapt to 8.5 percent.

According to IDES spokesman Greg Rivara, the the jobless rate in the city of McHenry was 7.3 percent, compared to 9.5 percent in 2011.