The Worcester-area unemployment rate fell from 9.4 percent in January to 8.9 percent in February, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The figure compares to a 9.8 percent unemployment rate in February 2010.
The Fitchburg-Leominster-Gardner metropolitan area also saw its unemployment rate drop last month from 11.6 in January to 11.3 in February. That compares to an 11.9 percent rate a year ago.
Statewide, the not-seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate in the commonwealth last month was 8.7 percent.
The federal government noted that 308 of the 372 metropolitan areas in the country experienced a drop in year-over-year unemployment rates in February.
