September 20, 2007 11:49 AM

State jobless rate falls
Posted by Douglas Eisenhartat 11:49 AM

Massachusetts' unemployment rate fell below the national rate in August. Unemployment in the state fell from 5.1 percent in July to 4.5 percent in August, while the national rate was at 4.6 percent. The state also gained 2,800 jobs.

There's good news and bad news in this. Unemployment rate down and adding jobs: good. Reason for falling rate: not so good:

The state's August unemployment decline was driven by a nearly 41,000-person drop in the size of the labor force, which is the sum of employed and unemployed workers in the state.