Morgan County’s economy got a big boost in November as its unemployment rate dropped nearly 1 percent for the second consecutive month to its lowest level in at least two years.

Only 7.5 percent of the county’s workforce was without a job last month, down from 8.3 percent in October and 9.4 percent in September. The new jobless rate is also 1.5 percent less than it was in November 2010.

Jeremy Nails, president and CEO of the Morgan County Economic Development Association, said the reason for the drop is due to hiring for new construction and the holiday season.

The new construction can be attributed to new and expanding industries including the new Polyplex plant, expansion at Copeland and the Excel Interior Door plant, which is replacing the former Jen-Weld plant.

“We have a lot of construction taking place in Morgan County, especially for new industry and expansion of current industry,” Nails said. “But we’re also seeing some new home construction. Businesses have hired employees for the Christmas season. All of these are factors to our lower unemployment rate.”

The 7.5 percent unemployment rate represents 4,243 workers, down more than 400 from October. The number of employed persons also increased by almost 300 to 52,130, but the civilian labor force decreased slightly to 56,373.

In the Decatur metropolitan area, the unemployment rate also decreased from 8.6 percent in October to 7.9 percent in November. Statewide, the unemployment rate, which is seasonally adjusted, also fell sharply from 8.7 percent in October to 8.0 percent in November and down from 9.1 percent in November 2010.

“November’s drop in the unemployment rate shows positive momentum needed at a time when our economy is struggling,” Gov. Robert Bentley said in a statement. “We still have a long way to go before we reach full employment, but another month with a decrease in unemployment is certainly a good sign our economy is improving.”

Shelby County has the lowest unemployment rate with 5.4 percent followed by Coffee (6.2 percent), Pike (6.6 percent), Limestone (6.7 percent), Lee (6.8 percent) and Madison (6.9 percent).

Wilcox County has the highest unemployment rate at 17.8 percent, which had an average unemployment rate of 21.7 percent in 2010.

Unemployment rates for other adjacent counties are Cullman at 7.0 percent, Lawrence County at 9.0 percent and Marshall at 7.4 percent.