AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Labor officials say Maine’s unemployment rate last month fell to 8.0 percent, down slightly from a month earlier.

The Maine Department of Labor reported Tuesday that the seasonally adjusted August figure is down from 8.1 percent in July and 8.2 percent in August 2009.

Nationally, the unemployment rate in August inched up to 9.6 percent from 9.5 percent in July.

Piscataquis County has Maine’s highest jobless rate at 10.2 percent. Lincoln County has the lowest rate, at 5.3 percent.

Labor Commissioner Laura Fortman said the economic recovery hasn’t been strong enough to provide sustained improvement for jobs.

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