Thursday, Dec. 15, 2011

ATLANTA (AP) -- Georgia's unemployment rate has fallen sharply to 9.9 percent in November, the largest one-month decline in 34 years.

State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said Thursday the rate dropped from 10.2 percent in October because of an increase of 22,400 jobs in the state. He said not all of the growth was linked to an uptick in holiday hiring.

The number of jobs in the state rose to 3.8 million in November, and sectors that grew included education and health care.

Georgia still has about 20,000 fewer jobs than it did in November of last year, when the jobless rate was 10.4 percent. That's largely because 22,500 government jobs were cut over the last year.

Butler said it was a sign politicians are trying to "make government live within its means."

(Copyright 2011, The Associated Press)