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

At the same time, the five-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 4.6 percent – 13th among all 14 MSAs in Georgia. That’s down 0.2 percent from the previous month and down from 5.7 percent one year ago.

The labor force decreased in August by 1,824 to reach 125,887 total members.  The number has climbed by more than 1,800 over the past 12 months. 

Columbus lost 1,424 employed residents in August, dropping its total to more than 120,124. That number has grown by about 3,100 over the past year.  

Columbus saw jobs increase by 400 in August to reach 123,000. This puts Columbus up 2,100 jobs for the year.

Initial claims for unemployment are down by about 24 percent for the month and are down by about 14 percent when compared to the same period a year ago.   

Employ Georgia, the GDOL’s online job listing service at employgeorgia.com showed 2,144 active job postings in metro Columbus for August.