Moore County joined 89 other counties in seeing their unemployment rates dip in August, according to statistics released today by the state's Employment Security Commission.

The August unemployment rate for the county was 9.7, as compared to 10.1 for July.

"Rates have decreased in many of these counties for various reasons," said ESC Chairman Moses Carey Jr. said in a press release. "Most counties experienced some loss in the labor force. People moving away and looking for work in other areas, students returning to school or, some people exhausting their benefits, are reasons for such declines. This can have an impact on the unemployment rate."

Moore County is a case in point. Although the rate dropped in August, there are less people employed in the county. In July, there were 33,823 employed, while in August there were 33,377 employed. The labor force shrunk by slightly more than 600 people (37,608 in July, as opposed to 36,980 in August).

Moore County and 44 other counties were at or below the state's unadjusted unemployment rate of 10.7 percent.