The Georgia Department of Labor has released city-specific preliminary unemployment numbers for July.

North Fulton cities have lower unemployment rates than the state, which has an unemployment rate of 9.9 percent.

Johns Creek’s numbers show improvement, with the rate at 9 percent in July — down from 9.2 percent in June and down from 9.3 percent in July 2009.

Roswell’s unemployment rate is steady with 8 percent for July, 8 percent for June and 8 percent July 2009.

Alpharetta has also stayed steady with an unemployment rate of 8 percent for July, which is down from 8.1 percent in June. The number is slightly up from a rate of 7.9 percent last July.

“The numbers show that Alpharetta is a stable market, which is a good thing,” said Christopher Jones, Alpharetta’s economic development coordinator. “We’re remaining at about the same point, but we’re seeing changes in the types of jobs people are getting.”

To identify the city’s economic development strengths, weaknesses and opportunities for the future, Alpharetta is in the process of producing a comprehensive Economic Development Plan for 2011 to 2020.

“We want to see what types of jobs are coming into the city, and we want to focus on business retention and growth — not just job recruitment.”

The city will seek input from community leaders, local businesses, homeowners associations, economic development partners and interested citizens to get opinions about the direction of economic development is going in the Alpharetta.

The plan is expected to be completed by next March.