INDIANAPOLIS - Indiana's unemployment rate dropped to 8.2 percent last month, while the state's labor force grew for the first time in seven months.

The Department of Workforce Development reported Friday that September's jobless rate dropped a percentage point from August, the first decline in the rate since April.

While the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that Indiana lost 6,000 private sector jobs in September, the first monthly decline in nearly a year, state employment officials stressed that private sector jobs have grown by more than 43,000 in 2012.

Department of Workforce Development Commissioner Scott B. Sanders said September's increase in the labor force signals more Hoosiers are once again looking for work.

"I find it particularly encouraging that Hoosiers are returning to the labor force," he said in a news release. "Indiana also continues to outpace the nation in rate of private sector job growth and state continued unemployment insurance claims are at their lowest level since 2000."