ATLANTA — Effingham County’s unemployment rate shrank in September, even as the labor force grew, according to Georgia Department of Labor statistics.

The preliminary unemployment rate for September was 6.1 percent, down from 6.7 percent in August and 6.5 percent in September 2013. The labor force has grown from approximately 27,590 in both September 2013 and August to 27,788 for September. Of Georgia’s 159 counties, Effingham’s unemployment rate for September is the 18th-lowest.

The state Department of Labor announced that Metro Savannah’s unemployment rate for September was 7 percent, down eight-tenths of a percentage point from 7.8 percent in August. The rate in September of last year was 7.2 percent.

The rate dropped because there were 1,412 fewer unemployed people in the Savannah area in September, according to the federal government’s monthly household survey, and there were fewer new layoffs.

As the rate decreased, Metro Savannah added 700 jobs, or 0.4 percent, in September, as the total number of jobs increased to 166,000 from 165,300 in August. The job gains came mostly in professional and business services, trade, transportation and warehousing, and state government.

And, there was an over-the-year gain of 4,400 jobs, or 2.7 percent, from 161,600 in September in 2013. The job gains came mostly in professional and business services, trade, transportation and warehousing, and leisure and hospitality.

Also, there were 861 new claims for unemployment insurance filed in September, a decrease of 217, or 20.1 percent, from 1,078 in August. Most of the decrease in claims came in administrative and educational services, health care and social assistance, and professional and technical services. Over the year, claims were down 28.4 percent from the 1,203 filed in September 2013.

The unemployment rate in the Coastal Georgia region in September was 7.5 percent, down eight-tenths of a percentage point from 8.3 percent in August. The rate in September of last year was 7.9 percent.

The rate dropped because there were 2,555 fewer unemployed people in the Coastal Georgia area in September, according to the federal government’s monthly household survey, and there were fewer new layoffs.

There were 1,519 new claims for unemployment insurance filed in September, a decrease of 165, or 9.8 percent, from 1,684 in August. Most of the decrease in claims came in professional and technical services, health care and social assistance, and administrative and educational services. Over the year, claims were down 30.4 percent from the 2,183 filed in September 2013.

Metro Athens had the lowest area jobless rate at 5.7 percent, while the Heart of Georgia-Altamaha region had the highest at 9.5 percent.

Meanwhile, Georgia’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate for September was 7.9 percent, down from 8.1 percent in August. It was 8.0 percent in September 2013.

Local unemployment data are not seasonally adjusted. Georgia labor market data are available at www.gdol.ga.gov.