Much of the nation continues to show the staggering effects of a less than robust economy, but the picture continues to look rosier locally.
Latest jobless figures for the Williamsport Metropolitan Statistical Area reflect a drop of five-tenths of a percent between December and January.
The 6.7 percent figure marks the first time the local unemployment rate has fallen below 7.0 percent since November 2008, according to state Department of Labor & Industry statistics.
That's the fifth lowest rate among the state 14 MSAs.
Lycoming County's jobless rate is at 6.7 percent, the 17th lowest rate among the state's 67 counties.
For other counties the figures for January are: Tioga, 5.9 percent; Sullivan, 6.4 percent; Bradford, 5.6 percent; and Clinton, 7.6 percent.
Statewide, unemployment ranged from 5.2 percent in Centre County to 10.7 percent in Philadelphia County.
"Williamsport actually has been doing pretty well over the last 18 months due to ... surprise, surprise ... the Marcellus Shale," said Steven Zellers, industry and business analyst for the Department of Labor & Industry.
The state's jobless figure fell one-tenth to 7.6 percent.
The U.S. rate dropped two-tenths to 8.3 percent.
Zellers noted that Williamsport gained 1,700 jobs between January 2011 and January 2012, a 3.2 percent hike, the best increase of all MSAs in the state.
"A lot of things across the state actually didn't move that much except for the usual seasonal adjustments," Zellers said.
