Sandy Springs added 74 employed residents in August, but its unemployment rate still climbed from 2.4% to 2.7%.

The reason: the city's labor force grew faster than hiring. Sandy Springs gained 275 labor force participants from July to August, according to Georgia Department of Labor estimates. That left 201 more residents counted as unemployed even as the total number working rose to 63,576.

The pattern played out across the region. Fulton County's unemployment rate ticked up from 3.4% to 3.5%, and the Atlanta metro area moved from 3.2% to 3.4%. Alpharetta, Johns Creek, Roswell and several other north Atlanta cities saw similar increases, as reported by the North Atlanta Star.

All the figures are preliminary and not seasonally adjusted.

The monthly rise does not signal a contracting job market. It reflects graduates, returning workers and other job seekers entering the workforce faster than employers absorbed them, the North Atlanta Star reported. Across Fulton, Forsyth and Gwinnett counties combined, 3,762 people joined the labor force in August while only 1,875 found jobs.

The year-over-year picture is stronger. Sandy Springs' 2.7% rate matches August 2025 exactly. Fulton County's rate is down from 3.7% a year ago, and the three-county region has 21,758 more employed residents than it did in August 2025.

Georgia Labor Commissioner Bárbara Rivera Holmes said in a Sept. 17 statement that the statewide economy is "thriving," noting that the state's labor force hit a record 5.49 million and its seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 3.2%, a two-and-a-half-year low, according to The Center Square. Georgia added 8,000 payroll jobs in August after two months of decline.

The statewide and local numbers move in different directions partly because county-level data is not seasonally adjusted, making month-to-month swings more pronounced.

The sector mix matters for Sandy Springs workers. Professional and technical services shed 11,600 positions statewide over the past year, according to the Georgia Department of Labor. Health care moved in the opposite direction, adding 19,100 jobs over the same period.

Sandy Springs' labor force stood at 65,338 in August, up from 64,188 a year earlier. The city had 1,134 more employed residents than in August 2025.