Slot machine gambling appears to be hurting lottery ticket sales the most in areas near casinos, although gambling alone cannot be blamed for a slowdown in Pennsylvania Lottery sales statewide, according to a legislative report.

The report, scheduled for release today by the state Legislative Budget and Finance Committee, compared county-by-county sales of lottery tickets in 2006 and 2007, and found a bigger overall drop in counties that hosted a slots casino.

But the report, a draft of which was viewed by The Associated Press, also cited a slumping economy and other factors for a recent slowdown in lottery sales after several years of big increases statewide. Sales rose less than 1 percent in 2007 after jumping more than 9 percent in 2006.