NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee officials say unemployment rates dropped in 90 of the state's 95 counties last month.

The state Department of Labor and Workforce Development says unemployment rates checked in at less than 5% in 90 counties and 5% or greater in the remaining five. Officials say rates dropped in 12 of Tennessee's 15 distressed counties in September.

The statewide seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped to 3.4% in September, down 0.1 of a percentage point compared to August. Nationally, unemployment declined in September by 0.2 of a percentage point to 3.5%.

Williamson and Sevier counties had the lowest unemployment rates at 2.3%. Davidson, Cheatham and Rutherford counties had rates of 2.4%.

Clay County recorded the state's highest unemployment rate at 5.6%, which was a 0.4 of a percentage point drop from August.4