Unemployment rate unchanged for Augusta in October

The rate was 9.3 percent in October 2011.

Results for counties in the metro area were mixed, with Rich­mond, Columbia and McDuffie counties experiencing higher unemployment in October, and Burke, Aiken and Edgefield counties lower.

Columbia County had the lowest rate in the area at 7 percent, with Aiken County at 7.3 percent.

The Augusta area remains close to the state levels. Geor­gia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 8.7 percent in October from 9 percent in September. South Carolina fell from 9.1 percent in September to 8.6 percent in October.

The Athens area continued to have the lowest metro area jobless rate in Georgia at 6.2 percent, while metro Dalton had the highest at 11.3 percent.