State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said that metro Augusta hit an all-time record in October for the total number of jobs.

The metro area preliminarily posted 241,400 jobs in October, up by 1,300 jobs from a revised 240,100 in September. The previous record high was a revised 240,900 last April. Monthly job growth came in professional and business services, education and health services, and retail trade. State and local government added 400 jobs.

While the labor force and number of employed residents declined in October, other economic indicators were up over the past year.

“Metro Augusta is a growing job market and is producing some strong economic numbers,” Butler said. “This is a continuation of a great year for metro Augusta.”

Over the past 12 months, metro Augusta added 6,200 jobs, a 2.6 percent increase. Most of the job growth came in the education and health care, leisure and hospitality, and professional and business services. State and local government added 900 jobs.

In October the number of employed residents declined by 1,356 to 256,757. There are 7,919 more Augusta residents employed now than in October 2016.

The labor force, which includes the total number of residents with jobs and those unemployed but looking for work, declined to 269,139, down by 640 in October. The labor force is up by 4,951 since October 2016.

The October unemployment rate, at 4.6 percent, was up from 4.3 percent in September. The rate rose as unemployment increased by 716 to 12,382. Still, the October rate compares favorably to last October when the rate was 5.8 percent.

Unemployment claims were up by 62.1 percent to 1,376. Claims were up in manufacturing.   Compared to last October claims were down by 9.5 percent, from 1,521 in October 2016.

“While claims are up for the month, they remain lower than they were at this time last year,” Butler noted. “The trend is headed in the right direction. That’s always going to be more important than any single month.”