The Bureau of Labor Statistics says Indiana lost nearly 5,800 jobs in October.

Preliminary numbers released yesterday show the job losses pushed the state's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate to 6.4 percent, up from 6.2 percent in September.

Indiana Department of Workforce Development spokesman Gary Abel says the state's unemployment rate now equals the highest level since February 1987. But it's still a tenth of a percent lower than the national average.

Abel says October's job losses were heaviest in areas of the state with RV or automotive plants reeling from the nation's credit crunch, high fuel prices and lower consumer spending.