Mentor's unemployment rate dropped to 5.8 percent in September, the lowest it's been since December 2008, according to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.

By comparison, the city's unemployment rate was 6.4 percent in August, as well as 6.4 percent in September 2010.

Similarly, the unemployment rate in Lake County dipped from 7.1 percent in August to 6.3 percent in September. The state's unemployment rate also dipped to 8.5 percent.

Meanwhile, The national unemployment rate remained at 9.1 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Mentor still has the lowest unemployment rate of any Ohio city with a population of more than 50,000, according to Ron Traub, the city's director of economic development.

Mentor's unemployment rate peaked in January and February of 2010 at 8.7 percent.