AUGUSTA – Maine’s unemployment rate dropped by 0.2 percentage point in October, to 5.2 percent, the state Labor Department said.

Labor Commissioner Laura Fortman said the jobless rate dropped from a revised rate of 5.4 percent in September as the number of Maine residents working continued to increase.

Between October 2004 and October 2005, the state’s unemployment rate rose from 4.7 percent to 5.2 percent, as an increase in the number of job seekers exceeded employment gains.

The figures are adjusted to reflect seasonal fluctuations in the labor market.