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

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

All indicators still 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 4.7 percent – the highest among all 14 MSAs in Georgia. That’s down 0.3 percent from the previous month and down from 5.8 percent one year ago.

The labor force decreased in August by 1,244 to reach 67,881 total members.  The number has climbed by about 250 over the past 12 months. 

Albany  lost 971 employed residents in August, dropping its total to more than 64,500. That number has grown by about 1,000 over the past year.  

Albany saw jobs increase by 200 in August to reach 63,000. That puts Albany up 600 jobs for the year.

Initial claims for unemployment are down by about 3 percent for the month and are up by about 1 percent when compared to the same period a year ago.   

Employ Georgia, the GDOL’s online job listing service at employgeorgia.com showed 428 active job postings in metro Albany for August.

The five-county MSA includes Baker, Dougherty, Lee, Terrell and Worth counties.