Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said Thursday that Rome shrunk umemployment claims and rate in September.

All indicators still remain positive for the year with the excpetion of labor force.

“It’s exciting to see so many of our communities across the state doing so well,” Butler said. “We continue to add jobs and see the unemployment rate fall. Even better, people are getting hired - often at record levels.” 

The September unemployment rate fell to 3.6 percent. That’s down 0.6 percent from the previous month and down from 4.8 percent one year ago. 

The labor force decreased in September by 325 to reach 44,218 total members.  The number has dropped by 435 over the past 12 months. 

Rome lost 64 employed residents in September, dropping its total to more than 42,614. That number grew by 105 over the past year.    

Rome saw jobs decrease by 300 in September to reach 41,400. This puts Rome up 300 jobs for the year.

Initial claims for unemployment are down by about 30 percent for the month and are down by about 39 percent when compared to the same period a year ago.    

Employ Georgia, the GDOL’s online job listing service at employgeorgia.com showed 304 active job postings in metro Rome for August.

The metropolitan statistical area includes just Floyd County.