UPDATE 1-Argentina Q2 jobless rate falls to 8 pct-president

(Updates with president's comment, background, details)

BUENOS AIRES, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Argentina's unemployment rate fell to 8 percent in the second quarter from 8.5 percent a year earlier, Argentine President Cristina Fernandez said on Wednesday.

Fernandez announced the figure during a speech in the Atlantic coastal city of Mar del Plata ahead of the official release by the national statistics agency scheduled for Friday.

"We have been able to do this with ideas and convictions," Fernandez said, referring to the drop in the jobless rate.

Unemployment was 8.4 percent in the first quarter and 7.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2007.

Vigorous economic growth topping 8 percent in each of the last five years has helped Argentina steadily lower its unemployment rate after it peaked at 21.5 percent during a deep economic crisis in 2002.

Analysts had forecast the jobless rate to fall to 7.7 percent in the second quarter, according to the median forecast in a recent central bank poll BCRA31.

(Reporting by Jorge Otaola; Writing by Kevin Gray; Editing by Diane Craft)