The unemployment rates in Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo counties all continued to drop in September, and all three counties had healthier labor markets than the state a whole.

The combined unemployment rate for the tri-county region was 7.9 percent in September, according to a Business Times analysis of data released Oct. 16 by the California Employment Development Department. That’s down from a revised figure of 8.2 percent for August.

The statewide figure was 11 percent, down from 11.2 percent in August but well above the 3.9 percent unemployment rate of September 2019. California has now regained 38 percent of the 2.6 million nonfarm jobs lost during the first two months of the COVID-19 pandemic, the EDD reported.

All three counties in the region had their lowest unemployment rates in September since before the pandemic began.

Ventura County had an unemployment rate of 8.4 percent in September, down from 8.7 percent in August and up from 3.3 percent in September 2019.

Santa Barbara County’s unemployment rate was 7.4 percent in September, down from 7.4 percent in August and up from 3 percent in September 2019.

In San Luis Obispo County, the September unemployment rate was 7.2 percent, compared to 7.6 percent a month earlier and 2.5 percent a year earlier.