LISBON, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- Portuguese unemployment in October fell to its lowest level since February 2005, according to figures released by the National Statistics Institute (INE) on Monday.

Unemployment stood at 8.4 percent in October, a 0.1 percentage point revision down of an earlier estimate. By way of annual comparison, in October 2016 unemployment came in at 10.5 percent.

The jobless rate has been steadily falling since January 2013, when unemployment peaked at 17.5 percent.

Further falls are expected in November's reading, with the INE announcing an estimate of 8.2 percent.

The release of the latest unemployment figures coincided with the publication of the Fitch Rating agency's latest report on Portugal.

Fitch cited the improving employment picture, as well as recovering real estate market, as primary reasons for optimism. It upgraded Portuguese debt to investment grade status in mid-December for the first time since 2011.