The Massachusetts unemployment rate dropped from 7.3 percent to 7 percent in November as employers added 5,000 net new jobs to the Bay State economy.

The November job increase follows a revised 11,900 job gain in October originally reported as 10,800.

Unemployment in Massachusetts now sits at its lowest level since December 2008. The rate also remains significantly below the 8.6 percent figure for the national as a whole.

Six of the 10 private sectors added jobs in November with gains in Leisure and Hospitality; Trade, Transportation, and Utilities; Education and Health Services; Financial Activities; Professional, Scientific and Business Services; and Other Services.

Manufacturing and construction each lost 1,400 jobs during the month.

Year-to-date (December 2010 to November 2011), 51,600 jobs have been added in the Bay State with 56,400 private sector jobs added. Over-the-year (November 2010 to November 2011), jobs are up 55,600, a growth rate of 1.7 percent, with private sector jobs up 59,900, for a growth rate of 2.2 percent. Over-the-year, the national rate of job growth is 1.2 percent with private sector job growth up 1.7 percent.

The report is a positive one, more so than the national report for November, which showed a similar drop in the unemployment rate. The state’s job gain was respectable if not spectacular – 5,000 on one survey, 13,900 on the other.

The erosion of government employment continues to exert downward pressure. One caveat is that a large chunk of the reported November job gain came in the Leisure and Hospitality sector, where the statistics have been volatile – and of course these tend to be lower-paying jobs.