Atlanta Unemployment Below 10 Percent in September

The unemployment rate in metro Atlanta dropped to 7.3 percent in September, according to labor force estimates released Thursday morning by the Georgia Department of Labor.

The August jobless rate was 8.0 percent, up from 7.9 in July. The rate in September 2013 was 7.6 percent.

Fulton County’s unemployment rate decreased from 8.8 to 8.2 percent between August and September. The county’s unemployment rate was at 8.4 percent this time last year. 448 fewer Fulton County citizens were in the workforce in September compared to August, and 2,870 more residents had jobs in September than in August.

In the section of Fulton County inside Atlanta city limits , the unemployment rate fell from 10.5 to 9.6 percent between August and September. In September of 2013, Fulton’s inside-the-perimeter unemployment rate was at 9.9 percent. 609 Atlantans left the workforce between August and September of this year, but 1,080 residents were hired during the same time period.

In August, metro Athens had the lowest area jobless rate in Georgia at 5.7 percent, while the Heart of Georgia-Altamaha region had the highest rate at 9.5 percent.

The number of jobs between August and September decreased by 4,000 to 2,468,600. Most of the lost jobs were in the professional services field and leisure and hospitality fields, as students left their summer jobs and returned to the classroom.

First time unemployment claims dropped 4.2 percent during the same stretch. Since September 2013, 51,900 jobs have been created in the metro Atlanta area, the second-best over-the-year job growth rate since 2007. The top job-creating field over the past 12 months in the metro Atlanta area has been in professional and business services, with 13,200 new jobs in the sector since this time last year.

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