NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee's unemployment rate for November was 8.1 percent, four-tenths of one percentage point lower than the previous month.

Department of Labor and Workforce Development Commissioner Burns Phillips said the October to November rate change is the largest monthly decline since April 2010.

Unemployment rates fell or were unchanged in all 50 U.S. states in November, evidence that hiring is improving across the country.

The Labor Department says employers added jobs in 43 states and cut jobs in just seven. California, Texas and Indiana reported the largest job gains.

Nationwide, hiring has been robust for the past four months. Employers added an average of 204,000 jobs from August through November, a strong pickup from early this year.

The national unemployment rate fell to 7 percent last month, a five-year low.

Still, the decline in state unemployment rates has occurred partly because many people have stopped looking for work. When people who are out of work stop looking for jobs, they're no longer counted as unemployed. The unemployment rate can fall as a result.