Butler County’s unemployment rate dropped to 6 percent in October, a full two percentage points lower than a year ago, and the lowest its been in four years.

Employment grew by 1,600 jobs from September to October in Butler County, for total employment of 182,200. That left 11,500 county residents unemployed.

New county and city jobless rates were released Tuesday, following a state job report put out last Friday that showed Ohio as whole was at its lowest rate of unemployment since August 2008, the first full year of the Great Recession.

“Even on an adjusted basis, the increase that you saw in the number of people working was larger than what we typically see going from September to October,” said Bill LaFayette owner of Regionomics, a Columbus-based workforce development and consulting firm. “Employment increased more than what we would expect, and so did the size of the labor force. That means the unemployment rate is going down for the right reasons.”

October was the third consecutive month Butler County unemployment stayed below 7 percent, according to figures from Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. In October, the county’s 6 percent unemployment rate, or 11,500 jobless people looking for work, fell from 6.2 percent in September. The same time a year ago, the rate was 8.1 percent.

Unemployment rates consider people who are without work, but actively looking for a job. The county’s unemployment levels averaged 5.9 percent in 2008 and 5.1 percent in 2007, according to Ohio Job and Family Services numbers. However, these figures would not include people who are discouraged and have given up looking for work.

Hamilton and Middletown, Butler County’s two biggest cities, also saw their unemployment rates drop last month. Hamilton’s slightly fell to 6.9 percent from 7 percent the month before and from 9.2 percent in October of 2011. Middletown’s dropped to 6.8 percent from 7.2 percent in September and 9.4 percent a year ago.

Fairfield has the lowest reported unemployment rate in the county of 5.6 percent, compared to 5.9 in September and 8.1 a year ago.

Of surrounding Ohio counties, only Warren County had lower unemployment of 5.5 percent. Warren usually has one of the lowest jobless rates in the region.

Ohio’s unemployment rate, reported last Friday, fell to 6.9 percent last month. It was the lowest rate in more than four years — as the Buckeye State added 13,900 non-farm jobs. Unemployment in Ohio is a full percentage point lower than the national rate and down from a revised statewide rate of 7.1 percent in September, according to the jobs report.

Staff Writer Randy Tucker contributed to this report.