By JOHN THOMPSON
jthompson@thecitizennews.com

As residents were getting busy to usher in the new year, Fayette County continued to enjoy the lowest unemployment rate in the metro Atlanta area.

In a report released last week by the Department of Labor, Fayette's rate in December dropped from 1.7 percent to 1.6 percent. Only 748 residents out of a labor force of 47,496 were classified as unemployed.

The next lowest rate in the metro area is Forsyth County with a 1.7 percent rate.

Overall, the region's rate for December was 2.6 percent, which is the lowest recorded ever.

“You have to go back nearly 30 years when our population and workforce in the Atlanta area were much smaller than they are today to find unemployment this low,” said State Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond.

During 1999, more than 113,000 jobs were created in the Atlanta region, the report said.

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