As

residents were getting busy to usher in the new year,

Fayette County continued to enjoy the lowest unemployment

rate in the metro Atlanta area.

In a report

released last week by the Department of Labor, Fayette's

rate in December dropped from 1.7 percent to 1.6 percent.

Only 748 residents out of a labor force of 47,496 were

classified as unemployed.

The next

lowest rate in the metro area is Forsyth County with a

1.7 percent rate.

Overall,

the region's rate for December was 2.6 percent, which is

the lowest recorded ever.

"You

have to go back nearly 30 years when our population and

workforce in the Atlanta area were much smaller than they

are today to find unemployment this low," said State

Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond.

During

1999, more than 113,000 jobs were created in the Atlanta

region, the report said.