[naviga:h3]Unemployment rate drops to 4.9 percent[/naviga:h3]

HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate crept downward in July, even as payrolls and the labor force shrank.

The state Department of Labor and Industry said Friday that Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate was 4.9 percent last month, down one-tenth of a percentage point. The national rate moved up slightly in August to 4.4 percent.

A survey of households survey found that Pennsylvania’s civilian labor force, employment and unemployment all shrank in August for the second straight month.

A separate survey of employers showed seasonally adjusted non-farm payrolls shrank by 8,000 from a record high in July, remaining above 5.95 million. The tourism, manufacturing and construction sectors reported growth, while government, education and health sectors reported shrinking the most.

Friday’s figures are preliminary and could change.

[naviga:h3]Equifax changes after security leak[/naviga:h3]

NEW YORK — Equifax announced late Friday that its chief information officer and chief security officer would leave the company immediately, following the enormous breach of 143 million Americans’ personal information.

It also presented a litany of security efforts it made after noticing suspicious network traffic in July.

The credit data company said that Susan Mauldin, who had been the top security officer, and David Webb, the chief technology officer, are retiring from Equifax. Mauldin, a college music major, had come under media scrutiny for her qualifications in security. Equifax did not say in its statement what retirement packages the executives would receive.

Mauldin is being replaced by Russ Ayers, an information technology executive inside Equifax. Webb is being replaced by Mark Rohrwasser, who most recently was in charge of Equifax’s international technology operations.

Equifax has been under intense public pressure since it disclosed last week that hackers accessed or stole the millions of Social Security numbers, birthdates and other information.

Equifax shares have lost a third of their value since it announced the breach.

[naviga:h3]Government fines Frontier Airlines[/naviga:h3]

DENVER — The U.S. Department of Transportation said Friday it fined Frontier Airlines $1.5 million for keeping passengers stuck on a dozen aircraft on the Denver airport tarmac for more than three hours amid a snowstorm last December.

But the department said it will forgive $900,000 of that because of compensation the airline paid to the passengers.

The delays came after a storm dropped 8 inches of snow at Denver International Airport on Dec. 16-17.

Passengers were held aboard 12 planes sitting on the tarmac for more than the three-hour limit set by law, the Transportation Department said.

The department said Frontier did not have enough staff and did not delay or divert enough flights to alleviate congestion at airport gates.