HARRISBURG — The number of Pennsylvanians with jobs continued to grow in November, and state tax collections remain on track as the budget year approaches its midpoint, Gov. Ed Rendell said Thursday.

At a Capitol news briefing, Rendell said the state’s unemployment rate fell to 8.6 percent in November, a 0.2 percent decline that reflected the addition of 5,100 nonfarm jobs. It was the fourth consecutive decline in the state rate.

The national unemployment rate in November was 9.8 percent.

Over the year ending last month, the number of jobs in Pennsylvania increased by 57,000 to 5.6 million, Rendell said.

He also said tax revenues remain on target overall for the year that ends June 30, with sluggish personal income-tax collections being largely offset so far by stronger-than-expected sales and corporate tax revenue. As of Nov. 30, the state had collected $9.2 billion in revenue in the current fiscal year, or 0.2 percent above estimates.

Larger-than-expected demand for Medicaid services could leave a shortfall of more than $60 million in the $28 billion budget that lawmakers approved last summer, he said.