The Georgia Department of Labor announced Thursday that the unemployment rate in the Northwest Georgia region in August was 5.8 percent, down seven-tenths of a percentage point from 6.5 percent in July. The rate in August 2014 was 7.8 percent.
The rate declined as the number of unemployed residents decreased by 2,989 to 22,828. Also, the number of initial claims for unemployment insurance declined by 1,423, or 39.1 percent, to 2,212 in August. Most of the decrease came in manufacturing and administrative and support services.
Over the year, claims were down by 1,731, or 43.9 percent, from 3,943 in August 2014.
Metro Gainesville had the lowest area jobless rate at 4.8 percent, while the Heart of Georgia-Altamaha region had the highest at 7.7 percent.
Meanwhile, Georgia’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate for August was 5.9 percent, down from 6.0 percent in July. It was 7.1 percent in August 2014.
Local area unemployment data are not seasonally adjusted. Georgia labor market data are available at
www.gdol.ga.gov.