KALAMAZOO (WKZO) -- The unemployment rate in the Kalamazoo-Portage Metropolitan area is down nearly a full percent in September.

The Michigan Department of Technology this week released figures that show the jobless rate at 6.5-percent.  Those figures include all of Kalamazoo and Van Buren Counties.  That's down from 7.4-percent in August and 8.4-percent from the year before.

Across Michigan, the rate is down a full percent to 8.2-percent, while the national average is sitting at 7.6-percent.