ATLANTA – Georgia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate declined to 8.7 percent in October. That’s a decline of three-tenths of a percentage point from September.

State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said, “The unemployment rate dropped because we had an increase of 36,000 new jobs, the largest September to October job increase ever. That job growth pushed the number of jobs in October to the highest level in any month since December of 2008.”

The growth came in a number of sectors, including retail trade, education and health care, professional and business services, state and local public schools.

Meanwhile, the state’s labor force also continued to increase, climbing four-tenths of a percentage point to 4.7 million.

Butler said growth in the labor force indicates that Georgians are increasingly optimistic about finding a job. “Fortunately, we’ve had the job growth necessary to put these people to work,” he added.

The number of initial claims for unemployment insurance rose by 11,931 in October. Most of the increase came in manufacturing, trade, administrative and support services, and construction.

The number of long-term unemployed workers declined for the sixth consecutive month, dropping 2,100 from September to October.