The Georgia Department of Labor announced today that Metro Augusta’s unemployment rate for September was 7.3 percent, down seven-tenths of a percentage point from 8.0 percent in August. The rate in September of last year was 7.8 percent. 

The rate dropped because there were 1,814 fewer unemployed people in the Augusta area in September, according to the federal government’s monthly household survey, and there were fewer new layoffs. 

As the rate decreased, Metro Augusta added 200 jobs, or 0.1 percent, in September, as the total number of jobs increased to 222,600 from 222,400 in August. The gains came mostly in professional and business services and state government.   

And, there was an over-the-year gain of 5,900 jobs, or 2.7 percent, from 216,700 in September 2013. This was the largest September-to-September job growth ever recorded in metro Augusta.   The job gains were mostly in leisure and hospitality and professional and business services.   

Also, there were 1,364 new claims for unemployment insurance filed in September, a decrease of 44, or 3.1 percent, from 1,408 in August. Most of the decrease came in manufacturing, professional and technical services, and administrative services. Over the year, claims were up 4.0 percent from the 1,312 filed in September 2013.    

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

Meanwhile, Georgia’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate for September was 7.9 percent, down from 8.1 percent in August. It was 8.0 percent in September 2013.