Jobless Rate Slightly Down

State officials say California´s unemployment rate dropped slightly to 6.3% in September from August´s revised figure of 6.4%. Despite the decrease, the jobless rate remained well above the 5.7% recorded in September 2001. It also was higher than the national numbers. Last week, the U-S Labor Department reported the jobless rate fell to 5.6% in September. According to the state Employment Development Corporation, about 1.1 million Californians were unemployed last month. The largest job losses were in government, which showed a net loss of 16,000 positions on a seasonally adjusted basis. Local government led the way, losing 14,500 positions.