Photo by Glyn Lowe Photos.

The jobless rate in D.C. continued to drop last month, with unemployment here falling one-tenth of a percentage point to 8.7, according to the newest round of statistics by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. With another shrinking of the unemployment rolls, September was the seventh consecutive month in which D.C.’s unemployment rate decreased.

About 30,900 District residents were listed as unemployed last month, a drop of 300 from August. Meanwhile, the U.S. Labor Department estimates D.C. added 14,200 jobs in September, 11,300 of which were in government agencies. The public sector lost 9,800 jobs the previous month.

“The continued drop in employment is further evidence that the economy is continuing to heal from the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression,” Mayor Vince Gray said in a news release.

Unemployment under Gray’s administration peaked at 10.5 percent in July 2011. Over the last 10 months, the jobless rate has dropped from 10.4 percent to 8.7.

The outlook also improved in Maryland, where unemployment fell by one-tenth of one percent, from 7 to 6.9, with a bulk of the gains coming from the service industry. Virginia’s unemployment rate stayed flat at 5.9 percent, despite the creation of 11,500 jobs.

Nationwide, unemployment fell to 7.8 percent in September, bringing the rate under 8 percent for the first time since January 2009. The next national jobs report is due out November 2, just four days before the presidential election.