Jobless rates reported lower in metro areas

Published 11:15 am Thursday, March 31, 2011

State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler says unemployment rates fell in most of Georgia’s metro areas last month.

In metro Atlanta, Butler said Thursday the preliminary unadjusted unemployment rate fell to 10.2 percent in February, down two-tenths of a point from January. The rate in metro Atlanta in February 2010 was 10.7 percent.

Butler says joblessness declined because there were 16,400 new jobs, mostly in service-related industries, construction and manufacturing.

Elsewhere, Savannah’s unemployment rate fell to 9 percent from 9.2 percent, Albany’s rate fell by a tenth of a point to 10.7 percent. The rate in Athens declined from 8 percent to 7.7 percent.

The rate in Brunswick fell from 10.5 to 10.3 percent, Macon’s rate fell from 10.4 to 10.3 percent and Augusta’s fell from 9 percent to 8.8 percent.