Business news in brief

Pennsylvania's unemployment rate fell to 7.3 percent in November from 7.5 percent in October and 8.1 percent a year ago, the state's Department of Labor and Industry reported Friday. The nation's November unemployment rate was 7 percent. Pennsylvania's payrolls expanded by 9,700 jobs, with service-sector jobs, particularly in business and financial services, taking the lead. There were 470,000 unemployed people in the state in November, down from 526,000 a year ago. - Jane M. Von Bergen

Center City law firm Fox Rothschild said Friday that it was merging with the seven-lawyer firm MBV Law L.L.P., San Francisco, effective Jan. 1. The group, which includes six partners and one associate, specializes in representing architects, engineers, and other design professionals in matters such as transition planning and mergers and acquisitions. The group will move to Fox's San Francisco office. - Chris Mondics

Penn National Gaming Inc. and the owner of Parx Casino in Bensalem lost to MGM Resorts International in the competition for Maryland's sixth and final casino license. Members of Maryland's Video Lottery Facility Location Commission voted, 5-2, for MGM. The majority of the commissioners were convinced that the Las Vegas company's site next to the Capital Beltway across the Potomac River from Alexandria, Va., would generate the most revenue for the state and attract more visitors from Washington. Two commissioners favored the Parx proposal. Penn National and Parx, which is owned by Greenwood Gaming & Entertainment Inc., are also competing for a casino license in Massachusetts. That decision is expected in February. - Harold Brubaker

Production workers at Rosenberger's Dairies in Hatfield voted Wednesday to be represented by Teamsters Local 463, union official Bobby Ryder said Friday. The vote was 44-33, with 77 of 88 eligible workers participating. - Jane M. Von Bergen

Toronto-based BlackBerry reported a $4.4 billion loss in the third quarter and a 56 percent drop in revenue in its first results under new chairman and interim chief executive John Chen, who hopes to make the company profitable again by 2016. BlackBerry also announced Friday it was entering into a five-year partnership with Foxconn, a Taiwanese company that assembles products in vast factories in China. - Associated Press