VALDOSTA – According to reports from the Georgia Department of Labor, the unemployment rate for the metro Valdosta area it at its lowest point in almost eight years, but over 1,000 job were lost in 2015.

The Valdosta metropolitan area covers Lowndes, Lanier, Brooks and Echols counties. The area’s unemployment rate for December 2015 was unchanged from the month before at 5.3 percent, the lowest since June 2008.

December saw an 9.8 percent increase in initial claims for unemployment insurance, with most coming from manufacturing. Overall claims for 2015 were down by 25.7 percent.

Despite the drop, Valdosta lost 1,100 jobs in 2015, mostly service industry and government positions.

Valdosta’s December unemployment rate was slightly lower than the state’s. Georgia’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate for December was 5.5 percent.