The Georgia Department of Labor announced today that Metro Albany’s unemployment rate for December was 7.3 percent, unchanged from November. The rate in December 2013 was 8.2 percent.

While the rate was unchanged in December, the number of jobs in Metro Albany declined to 61,800, down by 200 from 62,000 in November. Most of the job loss came in manufacturing and state and local government. And, there was an over-the-year loss of 300 jobs, down from 62,100 in December 2013. Most of the job loss was in retail trade, transportation and warehousing.

Also, there were 988 new claims for unemployment insurance filed in December, an increase of 616, or 165.6 percent, from 372 in November. Most of the increase in claims was because of seasonal temporary layoffs in administrative and support services, construction and manufacturing, and accommodations and food services. Over the year, claims were down by 517, or 34.4 percent, from 1,505 filed in December 2013.

Metro Athens had the lowest area jobless rate at 4.9 percent, while the Heart of Georgia-Altamaha region had the highest at 8.8 percent.

Meanwhile, Georgia’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate for December was 6.9 percent, down from 7.2 percent in November. It was 7.4 percent in December 2013.

A national leader in job growth for the past two years, Georgia has been in the top 10 states for job creation every month since October 2012. That trend continued in December as the state added 108,200 new jobs, for a 2.7 percent growth rate since December 2013. That pushed the state’s job total to 4,196,400, the highest level since 4,202,100 in December 2007.