Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said Thursday that Augusta added jobs and drove down its unemployment rate in August.

At the same time, the seven-county metropolitan statistical area (MSA) saw its monthly unemployment claims shrink.  

Most indicators remain positive for the year.

"Our communities across the state continue to thrive,” Butler said. “Local economies continue to add jobs and see other indicators like employment and labor force grow over time.  It has become almost routine for some of our local areas set records.” 

The August unemployment rate fell to 4.2 percent – tied for 10^th among all 14 MSAs in Georgia. That’s down 0.2 percent from the previous month and down from 5.3 percent one year ago.

The labor force decreased in August by 4,392 to reach 269,090 total members.  The number has climbed by about 3,150 over the past 12 months. 

Augusta  lost 3,848 employed residents in August, dropping its total to nearly 240,900. That number has grown by about 5,750 over the past year.  

Augusta saw jobs increase by 200 in August to reach 240,900. That puts Augusta up 5,400 jobs for the year. 

Initial claims for unemployment are down by about 43 percent for the month and are up by about 3 percent when compared to the same period a year ago.    

Employ Georgia, the GDOL’s online job listing service at employgeorgia.com showed 3,166 active job postings in metro Augusta for August.

The seven-county MSA includes the counties of Burke, Columbia, Lincoln, McDuffie, Richmond and Aiken and Edgefield in South Carolina.