HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s jobless rate dropped back down a notch in September after bumping up the past two months, even as employer payrolls shrank during the month.

The state Department of Labor and Industry said today that the seasonally adjusted rate in September was 5.7 percent, down one tenth of a percentage point from August. The U.S. rate is 5.9 percent.

In a survey of households, the agency estimated that the number of people working rose by 11,000, to remain slightly below 6 million, while unemployment fell by 8,000 to 360,000.

A separate survey of employers found that payrolls shrank by 9,600, remaining under 5.8 million. The construction, leisure and hospitality and trade, transportation and utilities sectors declined, while manufacturing and education and health sector payrolls grew.