Jobless rates fall in 29 states in August amid job gains

Nationwide, employers added 173,000 jobs in August, while the national unemployment rate fell to 5.1 percent from 5.3 percent.

Preliminary data released Friday showed the state recorded a net gain of non-farm jobs from July to August, according to the state Department of Labor and Employment. The rate was 6.0 percent in July.

Connecticut’s unemployment rate has not been this low since April 2008 – a new seven-year low – when unemployment was increasing at the beginning of the Great Recession (during the recession, it peaked at 9.2% in 2010). The growth came mainly in the construction industry, which added 2,400 jobs.

And, over the year, claims were down by 4,787, or 15.4 percent, from 31,122 filed in August 2014. The figure is four-tenths of a point under the August 2014 rate of 3.2 percent.

The Arkansas Department of Workforce Services said the numbers reflect 3,900 more employed and 2,500 fewer unemployed Arkansans.

Still, North Dakota, which has benefited from a boom in oil and gas drilling, is one of three states to lose jobs in the past year. Brunswick, Hinesville, Albany, Valdosta and Warner Robins all lost jobs over the past 12 months, with the latter two cities’ totals down 1,000 and 1,300 positions, respectively.

Georgia’s continuing job growth increases the existing demand for skilled workers.