The Gainesville metro area recorded a decrease in its unemployment rate last month and had the lowest rate in the state.
In numbers released Thursday morning, the Georgia Department of Labor reported the February rate at 4.1 percent, down six-tenths of a point from January.
State labor commissioner Mark Butler said people are coming back into the work force and there were fewer layoffs.
"Even more importantly, we're continuing to see individuals in the Gainesville area actually gain jobs. It's just right under 680 individuals actually gained employment in the month of February," Butler said.
The number of jobs for the month in metro Gainesville increased by 0.6 percent.
"Local businesses are continuing to create jobs. We saw the Gainesville area add 500 jobs going from January to February, which is a significant jump in job growth," Butler said.
The rates in the Georgia Mountains, Northeast Georgia and metro Atlanta areas were down for the month as well.
Georgia’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate for February was 5.3 percent, down from 5.5 percent in January. It was also 5.5 percent in February 2016.
