AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) – The Maine Labor Department says the state’s unemployment rate dropped by 0.1 percentage point to 8.5 percent between August and September.

Labor Commissioner Laura Fortman says that even though the jobless rate has remained relatively stable since June, many people continue to struggle to find jobs.

But Maine’s unemployment rate is still better than the national figure for September, 9.8 percent, up from 9.7 percent in August.

Both Maine’s and the national jobless rates for September were higher than they were a year earlier.