INDIANAPOLIS, Ind., COLUMBUS, Oh. (Indiana's NewsCenter) --- Indiana's unemployment rate dropped to 9.9 percent in August, the first time the rate has slipped below 10 percent since April.

In Ohio, the jobless rate declined to 10.8 percent in August.

Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers show Indiana's jobless rate fell from 10.6 percent in July, putting it among just four states with a measurable rate decreases over the month.

Some economists believe Indiana's unemployment rate will climb
to a peak of 11 percent or more before starting a more permanent
decline. The last time Indiana's unemployment rate topped 11
percent was in May 1983, when the jobless rate reached 11.3
percent.

In Ohio, state officials say the drop is not cause for exhuberance, saying that both services and goods-producing industries lost more jobs
in August.

Ohio Department of labor spokesman Brian Harter said Friday that the
main reason unemployment went down in Ohio was that students were returning to school, leaving fewer people actively looking for work.

(From Associated Press swire reports)