The Georgia Department of Labor announced that Metro Athens’ unemployment rate in October was 4.8 percent, down eight-tenths of a percentage point from 5.6 percent in September. The rate in October 2015 was 5.2 percent.

The rate declined as employers laid off fewer workers. The number of initial claims for unemployment insurance, a measure of new layoffs, declined by 435, or 54.4 percent, to 365 in October. Most of the decrease came in wholesale trade and administrative and support services. Over the year, claims were down by 50, or 12 percent, from 415 in October 2015.

The number of unemployed residents declined by 804 to 4,735, while the number employed decreased by 109 to 93,924. The labor force, which consists of employed residents and those who are unemployed but actively looking for jobs, declined by 913 to 98,659.

The number of jobs decreased by 300, or 0.3 percent, to 96,200. Most of the job losses came in trade, transportation and warehousing, along with the goods-producing sector, which includes manufacturing and construction.

Over the year, the area gained 2,800 jobs, a 3 percent growth rate. Most of the job gains came in state government, professional and business services, leisure and hospitality, and trade, transportation and warehousing.

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.