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

At the same time, the one-county metropolitan statistical area (MSA) saw its 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 4.2 percent – tied for tenth among all 14 MSAs in Georgia. That’s down 0.5 percent from the previous month and down from 5.4 percent one year ago.

The labor force decreased in August by 785 to reach 44,479 total members.  The number has climbed by 276 over the past 12 months.

Rome lost 541 employed residents in August, dropping its total to more than 42,610. That number grew by about 779 over the past year.    

Rome saw jobs increase by 200 in August to reach 41,600. This puts Rome  up 500 jobs for the year.

Initial claims for unemployment are down by about 44 percent for the month and are down by about 24 percent when compared to the same period a year ago.   

Employ Georgia, the GDOL’s online job listing service at employgeorgia.com showed 306 active job postings in metro Rome for August.