HARRISBURG — The size of Pennsylvania's labor force shrank in March by the biggest one-month amount in almost three decades, as unemployment and payrolls also fell.

The Department of Labor and Industry said Friday the state's unemployment rate dropped to 7.9 percent in March, down from 8.1 percent in February. The national unemployment rate was 7.6 percent in March.

A survey of households showed the number of people working or looking for work fell in March by 33,000 to just above 6.5 million. That's the largest one-month drop since 1983.

PITTSBURGH — A spokesman for the Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh says dozens of unfair labor practice charges filed by union organizers are a “common tactic” meant to “generate media attention and sympathetic awareness.”Officials with Unite Here Local 57 on Thursday filed dozens of complaints with the National Labor Relations Board claiming chefs, food-and-beverage supervisors and other officials at the casino are trying to intimidate some 800 workers from unionizing. The charge claims say various casino employees or supervisors have made statements against organizing and are sometimes watching workers.

PITTSBURGH — The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center has sued the city of Pittsburgh over last month’s challenge to UPMC’s nonprofit status, filed last month in state court.Mayor Luke Ravenstahl argued last month that UPMC shouldn’t be treated like a charity because it doesn’t act like one, in hopes a judge would allow the city to tax certain exempt UPMC assets.In the federal lawsuit filed Friday, UPMC says it is being unfairly singled out from other nonprofits and said the city has also mischaracterized how much charitable work UPMC does.The lawsuit contends UPMC contributed $622 million in its most recent fiscal year, including free health care, research and education, and community service programs.