ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia's unemployment rate has dropped to 8.7 percent.

The Georgia Department of Labor early Thursday morning announced the new figure, which is the seasonally adjusted jobless rate for August.

It is down from 8.8 percent in July.

State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler says the main reason the rate dropped is that Georgia had a significant reduction in layoffs -- the fewest since September 2007. Also, the state saw a small increase in the number of jobs.