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Business news in brief

In the Region

Pa. jobless rate at 7.8%

Pennsylvania has reported the biggest monthly drop in joblessness in nearly 30 years. The state Department of Labor and Industry said the unemployment rate dropped to 7.8 percent in November from 8.1 percent, the largest drop since 1983. The national unemployment rate is 7.7 percent. - AP

Constar to cut 80 jobs

Constar International L.L.C., a plastic-container maker with headquarters in Trevose, said that by Jan. 31, it would close a soft-drink container facility in Jackson, Miss., putting 40 employees out of work. Another 40 workers will be affected in Havre de Grace, Md., where the company will close part of a facility by the end of March. Both actions are in response to the Dec. 31 end of a large contract for carbonated soft-drink bottles, Constar said. - Reid Kanaley

Poll: 51% favor sports betting

A new poll finds just over half of Americans favor making sports betting legal everywhere, while almost three-quarters are against legalizing Internet gambling. The Fairleigh Dickinson University PublicMind poll touches on two forms of gambling that New Jersey is avidly pursuing. The nationwide telephone poll found 51 percent in favor of sports betting and 27 percent for Internet gambling. - AP

Steel firm takes write-down

ArcelorMittal, the Luxembourg steelmaker with plate-steel operations in Coatesville and Conshohocken, will write down the good will in its European businesses by about $4.3 billion as the region's weakening economy erodes demand and leaves producers with excess capacity. Steel consumption in Europe has dropped by about 8 percent this year, the company said. - Bloomberg News

Suit: Discrimination at Pfizer

A woman who worked in Pfizer Inc.'s Collegeville office has sued the drugmaker in federal court in Philadelphia, alleging she was pressured by an unnamed male supervisor into having sex with him and then was fired when other company officials learned of the situation. Lisa Gault, a medical writer, says in her sex-discrimination lawsuit she was hired by Pfizer full-time in November 2010 and that the harassment began soon after. She was fired in April 2011. Pfizer spokesman Chris Loder declined to say whether the supervisor was still with the company, adding in a statement, "The plaintiff was not subjected to any sexual harassment and was terminated for legitimate reasons. We will continue to vigorously contest these baseless allegations." - David Sell