ATLANTA (AP) — Metro Atlanta's jobless rate has fallen to 7.3 percent.

The Georgia Department of Labor early Thursday morning announced the new September unemployment figure.

The new rate is down from 8 percent in August, and down from 7.6 percent from September 2013.

State labor officials say the rate dropped because there were 19,374 fewer unemployed people in the metro area last month, and there were fewer new layoffs.

The metro unemployment rates are not seasonally adjusted.

Statewide, Georgia's seasonally-adjusted jobless rate for September was 7.9 percent, down from 8.1 percent in August. It was 8 percent in September 2013.