State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said that metro Savannah added jobs and the number of employed residents rose in October as the coastal region bounced back from Hurricane Irma.

Metro Savannah preliminarily posted 181,400 jobs in October, up by 2,600 from a revised 178,800 in September. Monthly job gains came in the private sector, which includes trade, transportation and warehousing, professional and business services, leisure and hospitality, and education and health services.

“September was not a typical month for the Georgia coast,” Butler said. “The area has rebounded strongly from the effects of the storm. That shows a resilient economy.”

Economic indicators such as job growth, labor force and the number of employed residents are trending in the right direction in metro Savannah, Butler said.

Over the past 12 months, metro Savannah has added 5,200 jobs, a 3 percent growth rate.  Over-the-year job growth came in many of the same private industries as the monthly growth, plus 800 jobs in the goods-producing sector, which includes manufacturing, mining, logging and construction.

In October, the total number of employed residents rose by 442 to 178,533. There are 7,046 more Savannah residents employed now than in October 2016.

At the same time, metro Savannah’s labor force, which includes the total number of residents with jobs and those unemployed but looking for work, rose to 186,107, up by 734 in October. The labor force is up by 4,841 since October 2016.

The October unemployment rate, at 4.1 percent, was up from 3.9 percent in September. The rate rose as the number of unemployed residents increased by 292 to 7,574. The October rate compares favorably to last October when the rate was 5.4 percent.

Unemployment claims were down by 6.6 percent for the month to 1,092. Claims were down in construction, accommodations and food services, and health care and social assistance. Claims were down by 12.1 percent from 1,243 in October 2016.