AlQa'dah 23, 1432, Oct 21, 2011, SPA -- Unemployment rates fell in half of U.S. states last month, the U.S. Labor Department said on Friday. The Labor Department said unemployment rates dropped in 25 states, rose in 14 and stayed the same in 11-a modest improvement from August, when unemployment rose in 26 states. Nationwide, employers added 103,000 new jobs in September, nearly double the number created in August. That increase is still not enough to lower the unemployment rate, which stayed at 9.1 percent for the third straight month. Nevada reported the highest unemployment rate for the 16th straight month. It stayed at 13.4 percent for the second consecutive month. The rate in California fell from 12.1 in August to 11.9 percent. Michigan had the third-highest rate, at 11.1 percent. Layoffs have slowed at a national level in recent months. The number of people applying for unemployment benefits has fallen to a six-month low, according to a four-week average calculated by the government. Still, the national unemployment rate has been stuck near nine percent for more than two years. Employers have added an average of only 72,000 jobs per month in the past five months. That is far below the 100,000 per month needed to keep up with population growth. That is down from an average of 180,000 in the first four months of this year.
