The Georgia Department of Labor announced today that Metro Valdosta’s unemployment rate for August was 8.4 percent, unchanged from July. The rate in August of last year was 7.8 percent. 

There were 54,200 jobs in Valdosta in August up by 600, or 1.1 percent, from July. The monthly gains came mostly in state and local government and in the goods-producing sector, which includes manufacturing and construction. The number of jobs was unchanged from August 2013.

Also, there were 351 new claims for unemployment insurance filed in August, a decrease of 54, or 13.3 percent, from 405 in July. Most of the decrease in claims came in wholesale and retail trade, administrative and support services, and accommodations and food services. Over the year, the number of initial claims dropped by 17.4 percent from the 425 claims filed in August 2013.    

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.