Aerial view of a large hospital building with glass-fronted wings and surrounding parking lots — Northside Hospital Gwinnett is part of the health care sector helping offset job losses in office-oriented industries across North Atlanta.

North Atlanta’s labor market is sending two signals at once. Unemployment remained low in July across Forsyth, Fulton and Gwinnett counties, even as the broader Atlanta area lost payroll jobs.

The Atlanta Metropolitan Division had about 2.52 million nonfarm jobs in July, according to the latest Georgia Department of Labor employment report. That was 14,200 fewer than in June and 10,600 fewer than in July 2025.

The losses were concentrated in fields important to North Atlanta’s office economy. Professional, scientific and technical services employed 7,700 fewer workers than a year earlier. Computer-systems design lost 2,800 jobs, management and technical consulting lost 2,600, and finance and insurance lost 3,100.

Health care moved in the opposite direction. Health care and social assistance added 14,500 jobs over the year, including 9,400 in outpatient medical services and 2,800 in hospitals.

Those regional figures cover a large area, but the division includes Forsyth, Fulton and Gwinnett counties. The contrast is especially relevant around Alpharetta and Peachtree Corners, where technology and professional services are major employers, and in communities such as Cumming, Johns Creek, Roswell and Duluth, where health care continues to expand.

Low unemployment has continued despite the payroll decline. July unemployment was 2.6% in Forsyth County, 3% in Gwinnett and 3.4% in Fulton, according to the department’s county labor-force estimates. All three rates were lower than a year earlier.

The figures measure different things. Payroll data count jobs at businesses, while unemployment estimates track residents who are working or actively seeking work. A resident may work in another county, hold more than one job or leave one industry for another.

For local workers, the numbers point to a changing mix of opportunity rather than a broad employment collapse. Health care remains the clearest source of growth, while applicants in technology, consulting and finance may face more competition and longer searches than the low unemployment rate suggests.

Georgia followed the same pattern statewide. Employment and the labor force reached records in July, but payrolls fell for a second consecutive month. Health care and social assistance added 20,700 jobs over the year, while professional and technical services lost 11,500, according to the department’s Aug. 20 labor-market release.