INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – Indiana’s unemployment rate dipped slightly to 8.0 percent for October as officials say the state added 7,700 private sector jobs.

Figures released Tuesday by the state Department of Workforce Development show Indiana’s jobless rate declined from September’s 8.2 percent, with nearly 235,000 people looking for jobs last month.

The Indiana unemployment level hasn’t changed much since reaching 7.9 percent in April after going down from 9.3 percent in the middle of last year.

Workforce Development commissioner Scott Sanders says Indiana has been outpacing the national job-growth rate in sectors such as manufacturing and construction.

Indiana’s October jobless rate is slightly higher than the national 7.9 percent and better than its surrounding states other than Ohio. Sullivan and Fayette counties have the state’s highest unemployment rates at just over 10 percent.