ATLANTA – The jobless rate for the metro Savannah area decreased slightly while it remained unchanged for Coastal Georgia last month.
State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler announced Thursday that the preliminary unadjusted unemployment rate in metro Savannah decreased to 9.4 percent in July, down one-tenth of a percentage point from 9.5 percent in June. The jobless rate in metro Savannah in July a year ago was 10.1 percent.
Meanwhile, the preliminary unadjusted unemployment rate in the Coastal Georgia area was unchanged at 10 percent from June to July. The jobless rate in the Coastal Georgia area in July a year ago was 10.1 percent.
The rate for metro Savannah declined, Butler said, because of fewer layoffs in transportation and warehousing and accommodations and food services. And there was a decline of about 350 in the labor force, as some workers left the job market, he said.
According to a press release from the state labor department, the lowest area rates, at 7.9 percent, were recorded in Athens and Warner Robins, while the highest, at 12.8 percent, was in the Heart of Georgia-Altamaha area near Dublin. 
Statewide, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 10.1 percent in July, up two-tenths of a percentage point from 9.9 percent in June. The state’s jobless rate was also 10.1 percent in July a year ago.
The July increase, as in June, was due primarily to the traditional seasonal layoffs, with about 80 percent of them in state and local education. 
July marked the 48th consecutive month Georgia has exceeded the national unemployment rate, which is currently 9.1 percent, down from 9.2 percent in June. 
Local area unemployment rates are not seasonally adjusted. Georgia labor market data are available at www.dol.state.ga.us