Photo by Glyn Lowe Photos.

On the heel’s of his tenure as mayor, Vince Gray announced on Wednesday that the unemployment rates in Wards 5, 7, and 8 have hit record lows since he took office in January of 2011.

According to a release, as of November, the unemployment rate in Ward 8 sits at 16.6 percent, 6.6 percentage points lower then the 23.2 percent rate when Gray took office. Additionally, Ward 7’s unemployment rate dropped from 19.2 percent to 14 percent, and Ward 5’s dropped from 15.8 percent to 11 percent while Gray was in office.

Overall, the total unemployment rate in D.C. is at 7.4 percent—the lowest it’s been since 2008. In September of 2011, Gray launched his One City, One Hire initiative in order to help boost employment and connect employers with qualified job-seekers in the District. Though the initiative hit its goal of finding jobs for 10,000 District residents within a year. Gray’s initiative hit its goal, though it took a lot longer than it was supposed to.

“The double digit unemployment in some parts of the city is still too high and unacceptable,” Gray said in a statement. “We’ve not only worked hard to create jobs, but also have provided job training and other career services to ensure that residents are ready for work and have the tools they need to be successful, particularly those in the most depressed wards.”