The Georgia Department of Labor announced that Metro Savannah’s unemployment rate in October was 4.9 percent, down one-tenth of a percent from 5 percent in September. The rate in October 2015 was 5.2 percent.

The rate dropped Savannah employers continued to create new jobs.

The number of jobs increased by 300, or 0.2 percent, to 179,000. Most of the job gains came in education and health services and leisure and hospitality.

Over the year, the area gained 4,600 jobs, a 2.6 percent growth rate. Most of the job gains came in professional and business services, leisure and hospitality, education and health services, along with trade, transportation and warehousing. Manufacturing added 300 jobs.

The labor force decreased by 757 to 183,229. The labor force consists of employed residents and those who are unemployed, but actively looking for jobs. While the number of employed residents decreased by 562 to 174,214, the number of unemployed residents declined by 195 to 9,015.

The number of initial claims for unemployment insurance, a measure of new layoffs, rose by 561, or 82.3 percent, to 1,243 in October. Most of the increase came in administrative and support services, accommodations and food services and health care and social assistance, along with trade, transportation and warehousing.  Over the year, claims were up by 451, or 56.9 percent, from 792 in October 2015.

Metro Gainesville had the lowest area jobless rate at 4.4 percent, while the Heart of Georgia-Altamaha region had the highest at 7 percent.

Meanwhile, Georgia’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate for October was 5.2 percent, up from 5.1 percent in September. It was 5.5 percent in October 2015.