INDIANAPOLIS -- Indiana unemployment numbers have dropped slightly to 9.6 percent, state officials said.

Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers released Friday show Indiana's jobless rate fell 0.2 percent in November.

Interactive: State-By-State Unemployment Figures

"Indiana's unemployment rate appears to have reached a plateau these last four months in the mid- to upper 9 percent range," Indiana Department of Workforce Development Commissioner Teresa Voors said in a news release. "It is encouraging to see a slowing of job losses as evidenced by 40 percent fewer initial claims for unemployment when compared to November of last year."

Indiana's unemployment rate was well below some neighboring states with Illinois at 10.9 percent, Ohio growing to 10.6 percent, Kentucky at 10.6 percent and Michigan at 14.7 percent.

Indiana's unemployment rate stood at 7 percent in November 2008.

Some economists previously said they think Indiana's unemployment rate will climb to a peak of 11 percent or more before starting a more permanent decline.

The last time Indiana's unemployment rate topped 11 percent was in May 1983, when the jobless rate reached 11.3 percent.

The state's unemployment rate hit a record high in November 1982 at 12.8 percent.