The Georgia Department of Labor announced today that Metro Columbus’ unemployment rate for August was 8.9 percent, down one-tenth of a percentage point from 9.0 percent in July. The rate in August of last year was 8.5 percent. 

The August rate declined primarily because the number of initial claims for unemployment insurance, which is a measure of new layoffs, decreased by 13.1 percent.

There were 897 new claims for unemployment insurance filed in August, a decrease of 135, from 1,032 in July. Most of the decrease in claims came in manufacturing. Over the year, claims were down 23.4 percent from the 727 claims filed in August 2013.    

There were 121,000 jobs in Columbus in August, down by 300, or 0.3 percent, from July. The losses came in trade and transportation, information services, and the goods-producing sector, which includes manufacturing and construction.  

And, there was an over-the-year loss of 100 jobs, or 0.1 percent, from August 2013. The job loss was mostly in retail trade and transportation. 

Metro Athens had the lowest area jobless rate at 6.4 percent, while metro Dalton had the highest at 10.7 percent. 

Meanwhile, Georgia’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate for August was 8.1 percent, up from a revised 7.7 percent in July. It was 8.2 percent in August 2013.