Jobless Rate Drops in Sandy Springs

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The unemployment rate declined significantly last month in Sandy Springs and the metro Atlanta area, according to data released Thursday by the Georgia Department of Labor.

Sandy Springs’s preliminary jobless rate fell four-tenths of a percentage point in August to 4.5 percent, down from 5 percent in July.

The rate in August 2014 was 6 percent, according to the state.

So, how does the city’s latest numbers compare to its neighbors? Rates for surrounding municipalities are Alpharetta at 4.5 percent; Brookhaven at 2.6 percent; Duluth at 5.4 percent; Dunwoody at 4.4 percent; Johns Creek at 4.6 percent; Lawrenceville at 6.6 percent; Milton at 4.4 percent; Peachtree Corners at 3.1 percent; Smyrna at 4.8 percent; and Woodstock at 5.3 percent.

The metro Atlanta rate for August was 5.7 percent, also down four-tenths from the previous month. The rate was 7.3 percent a year ago.

GDOL noted the rate declined as employers created more jobs and initial unemployment insurance claims decreased.

Metro Gainesville once again had the lowest area jobless rate in Georgia at 4.8 percent, while the Heart of Georgia-Altamaha region had the highest at 7.7 percent.

Georgia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for August was 5.9 percent, down from 6.0 percent in July. It was 7.1 percent in August 2014.

You can scroll through local and regional unemployment data here. Please note that local area unemployment data is not seasonally adjusted.

Patch Editor Scott Bernarde contributed to this article.

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