Morgan County’s unemployment rate fell to 9.3 percent in August, down from 9.7 percent in July and down from 9.4 percent in August 2010.

According to data released from the Alabama Department of Industrial Relations, 51,279 residents in Morgan County were employed during August. That’s an increase of 332 from last month and nearly 750 more from last year. The number of unemployed persons also dropped by 192 to 5,257.

The Decatur metropolitan area also saw its unemployment numbers drop from 9.9 percent in July to 9.6 percent in August.

Statewide, the unemployment numbers dropped to 9.9 percent.

“We continue to see minor fluctuations in our unemployment rate, but I think the better indicator of our job market is the fact that we are consistently seeing our employment numbers rise, which is definitely a good sign,” said Alabama Department of Industrial Relations Director Tom Surtees. “This means that more people are going to work in Alabama.”

“In addition, we saw more hits on our online jobs database, our Career Centers have more active job orders, and we have the most new jobseeker resumes than at any point during the year – all of these stats point to the fact that people are gaining confidence in the job market,” Surtees continued.