HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania's unemployment rate fell for a second straight month in September, as employers added more than 7,000 jobs to their payrolls.

The state Department of Labor and Industry said Thursday that unemployment crept downward by two-tenths of a percentage point last month to 9 percent.

That's below the national rate of 9.6 percent. Pennsylvania's unemployment rate reached 9.3 percent in July, the highest mark since 1984.