CANTON — More than 500 Cherokee residents gained employment in February, according to preliminary figures released Thursday by the Georgia Department of Labor.

The county’s jobless rate remained the same from the previous month at 7.6 percent, due in part to Cherokee’s labor force growth to 113,685 from 113,124 the previous month.

This is a marked decrease from February 2011, where the unemployment rate was a full point higher at 8.6 percent despite the labor force expansion of over 1,800.

Cherokee also continues to retain the lowest unemployment rate in the metro area, with Gwinnett coming in second at 8 percent.

Other area rates include Bartow at 9.0 percent, Clayton at 11.4 percent, Cobb at 8.4 percent, DeKalb at 9.4 percent, Douglas at 9.4 percent, Fayette at 8.2 percent, Fulton at 9.8 percent, Henry at 9.2 percent, Paulding at 8.5 percent and Rockdale at 10.2 percent.

The February jobless rate for the county is lower than the national rate of 8.3 percent, also unchanged from January, and the state rate of 9.1 percent, down from one-tenth of a percent from the previous month. This is a marked decrease from 9.9 percent, the metro Atlanta rate in February a year ago.

The state Labor Department said fewer layoffs in manufacturing, construction, trade, and administrative and support services caused the drop in the Atlanta metro unemployment rate, which is at 9 percent, a one-tenth percent drop from January.

Georgia gained 15,600 jobs in February, with 70 percent coming from the private sector. A total of 3,880,400, the Labor Department said, with 41,800 gained within the past 12 months.

Most of the jobs gained within the past year are in the fields of professional and business services, the state department said. Other areas seeing growth were retail trade, education and health care, and manufacturing.