Unemployed workers filling the jobs of departing seasonal employees were credited for Mercer County's jobless rate sliding to 4.1 percent in September from August's 4.6 percent.

September's local unemployment rate was below the state's 4.8 percent rate and the national 5.8 percent rate.

However, there was an ominous sign the manufacturing sector was still getting battered as goods-producing jobs were off 100 to stand at 9,700 in September. Jobs in manufacturing slipped for the fifth straight month, sending that sector to its lowest employment level since at least 1990, when a new job classification system was started.

The start of another school year brought strong increases in educational services and local government, which helped push service-providing jobs upward by 1,200 to 39,300 in September, according to the state Department of Labor and Industry which compiled the unemployment figures. Gains in that sector more than offset a 300-job drop in leisure and hospitality as summer workers, mainly students, left their jobs to return to school.

Figures for September show the civilian labor force was down 300 to 57,800 in September, while the number of employed was unchanged for the third consecutive month at 55,400. The number of employed residents in Mercer County remained down from 2,200 from last September.

Those unemployed fell 300 to 2,400 in September.

Mercer County ranked 11th out of Pennsylvania's 43 labor markets in terms of the best jobless rate and 20th out of the state's 67 counties.

Forest County had the highest unemployment rate in the state at 12.8 percent, while Centre County had the lowest at 2.8 percent.

Surrounding counties' unemployment rates were: