The Georgia Department of Labor announced that Metro Augusta’s unemployment rate in October was 5.6 percent, down one-tenth of a percentage point from 5.7 percent in September. The rate in October 2015 was 6.1 percent.

As the rate declined, Augusta employers continued to create new jobs and more people went to work.

The number of jobs increased by 1,200, or 0.5 percent, to 231,500. Most of the job gains came in professional and business services, trade, transportation and warehousing, state and local government, financial activities and leisure and hospitality.

Over the year, the area gained 2,400 jobs, a 1.1 percent growth rate. Most of the job gains came in professional and business services, education and health services, state government and wholesale and retail trade.

The labor force increased by 467 to 260,078. The labor force consists of employed residents and those who are unemployed, but actively looking for jobs. While the number of employed residents increased by 621 to 245,387, the number of unemployed residents declined by 154 to 14,691.

The number of initial claims for unemployment insurance, a measure of new layoffs, rose by 423, or 38.5 percent, to 1,521 in October. Most of the increase came in manufacturing. Over the year, claims were up by 373, or 32.5 percent, from 1,148 in October 2015.

Metro Gainesville had the lowest area jobless rate at 4.4 percent, while the Heart of Georgia-Altamaha region had the highest at 7 percent.

Meanwhile, Georgia’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate for October was 5.2 percent, up from 5.1 percent in September. It was 5.5 percent in October 2015.