PORTLAND — Maine officials say seasonally adjusted unemployment rose slightly in the state from August to September.

The state’s Department of Labor reports preliminary seasonally adjusted unemployment rose from 5.6 percent in August to 5.8 percent in September. The figure is down one percentage point from a year ago. Officials say the number of unemployed declined by 6,000 over the course of the year to 40,700.

Labor officials say Maine’s ratio of employment to population was 60.9 percent, which is 1.9 percentage points higher than the national average.

The country’s preliminary unemployment rate of 5.9 percent fell from 6.1 percent in August and 7.2 percent a year ago. New England’s unemployment rate was 6 percent. Rhode Island had the highest percentage at 7.6 percent.