The Georgia Department of Labor announced that Effingham County’s unemployment rate for December 2014 fell to 5.4 percent, down from 5.5 percent in November 2014.

The jobless rate for December 2013 was 5.9 percent.

The unemployment rate in the Coastal Georgia region in December was 6.6 percent, unchanged from November. The rate in December 2013 was 7.2 percent.

While the rate was unchanged in December, there were 2,786 new claims for unemployment insurance filed, an increase of 1,360, or 95.4 percent, from 1,426 in November. Most of the increase in claims was because of seasonal temporary layoffs in transportation and warehousing, accommodations and food services, administrative and support services, and manufacturing and construction. Over the year, claims were down by 394, or 12.4 percent, from 3,180 filed in December 2013.

Metro Savannah’s unemployment rate for December was 6.2 percent, up one-tenth of a percentage point from 6.1 percent in November. The rate in December 2013 was 6.6 percent.

The rate rose in December as the number of jobs in Metro Savannah declined to 166,100, down by 1,400 from 167,500 in November. Most of the job loss came in professional and business services, leisure and hospitality, and education and health services.

However, there was an over-the-year gain of 4,400 jobs, or 2.7 percent, from 161,700 in December 2013. Most of the job growth came in professional and business services, leisure and hospitality, transportation and warehousing, education and health services, and mining, logging and construction.

Also, there were 1,736 new claims for unemployment insurance filed in December, an increase of 889, or 105 percent, from 847 in November. Most of the increase in claims was because of seasonal temporary layoffs in administrative and support services, accommodations and food services, and manufacturing and construction. Over the year, claims were down by 84, or 4.6 percent, from 1,820 filed in December 2013. Metro Athens had the lowest area jobless rate at 4.9 percent, while the Heart of Georgia-Altamaha region had the highest at 8.8 percent.

Meanwhile, Georgia’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate for December was 6.9 percent, down from 7.2 percent in November. It was 7.4 percent in December 2013.