AUGUSTA — Maine businesses will pay less in unemployment insurance taxes next year because more of the state’s residents have returned to work.

The Maine Department of Labor says the tax rate will drop to its lowest since 2009. It’s a cut of about one fifth in unemployment taxes per employee.

Maine’s preliminary, seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 4.4 percent in September from 5.6 percent a year earlier. Unemployment in the state was lower in September than it has been since April 2006.

The Portland Press Herald reports Maine’s unemployed rate shot up after the 2008 financial crisis, stabilized in 2011 and has gradually fallen since.