COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina unemployment has dropped by half a percentage point for the second month in a row, the biggest drop in the nation in October.

The 8.6 percent figure announced Tuesday by the state Department of Employment and Workforce was South Carolina’s lowest jobless rate in nearly four years. The last time the state’s unemployment marker was at 8.6 percent was in November 2008, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.