Metro Atlanta jobless rate falls to 7 percent

Metro Atlanta’s unemployment rate dropped to 7 percent in November, the lowest level since October 2008.

Not since October 2008, as the Great Recession picked up speed, had the jobless rate been so low — 6.9 percent.

In October 2013, the jobless rate stood at 7.7 percent.

The Georgia Department of Labor early Thursday attributed the November rate drop to a healthy increase in jobs and a steady drop in insurance claims by the newly unemployed.

Metro Atlanta employers added 14,300 jobs last month, mostly in the trade, transportation and warehousing sector. Government (2,000 new jobs), leisure and hospitality (1,800 jobs) and education and health care (1,200 jobs) also added jobs last month.

The metro region has added 59,200, a 2.5 percent increase, since November 2012.

A year ago, Metro Atlanta’s jobless rate was 8.1 percent.

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Dan Chapman

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