Unemployment down in midstate last month

(Harrisburg) -- Pennsylvania's October unemployment rate is 8.1 percent, decrease of one-tenth of a point from September, and the jobless picture in the midstate is improving, as well.

Seasonal job gains in the retail sector are being cited by analysts at the state Department of Labor and Industry as a driving factor in the uptick in all but one of the region's labor markets.

The so-called Metropolitain Statistical Areas of Harrisburg-Carlisle, York-Hanover, and Reading all saw one-tenth of a percent drops in unemployment.

Chambersburg, Gettysburg and Pottsville had gains of two-tenths of a percentage point.

Even with that uptick, Pottsville marked the midstate's highest unemployment rate at 9.3 percent.

Gettysburg has the lowest jobless rate at 6.5 percent.

Lancaster and Lebanon saw no changes in tied unemployment rates of 6.7 percent each.

Joblessness in the Sunbury area ticked up by one-tenth of a percent.