Roswell and Alpharetta maintained low unemployment rates in 2012, with Johns Creek not doing quite as well but still lower than the rest of Fulton County.

According to the Georgia Department of Labor, the overall average in Alpharetta for the year was 6.4 percent and 6.5 percent in Roswell.

Johns Creek had an average 7.2 percent unemployment for the year.

Milton’s figures weren’t available because the department doesn’t break out the numbers for cities with populations of less than 50,000.

In the last month of 2012, preliminary figures show Alpharetta and Roswell both had 6.4 percent unemployment. A year earlier, both cities were at 6.6 percent.

Johns Creek was 7.1 percent in December 2011 and 7.0 in December 2012.

Fulton County’s overall December 2012 figure was 9.3 percent; Georgia’s overall number was 8.8 percent.

The story is nothing new, said Steve Stroud, executive director of the Roswell Business Alliance. North Fulton’s demographics traditionally have skewed higher on the economic scale than most metro areas.

“We are insulated up here. You can see it not only in the job numbers but in the property values,” he said.

“The higher number of tech jobs is the difference.”

But despite the encouraging unemployment rates for this area, Stroud said he knows many are still out of work.

“There are still people hit hard, many in middle management, where their jobs were eliminated when corporations rightsized. They’re still struggling to find the right niche.”

Opportunities for them are on the horizon, he added. In addition to the 1,000 new jobs coming to Roswell over the next few years with General Motors, Stroud predicted even more tech jobs will show up in the area.

“I think what we will see is a strong IT commitment, and we’ll also see strong growth in the medical community. That’s one key area that’s going to grow in the Roswell market,” he said.

With the expansion of the Opportunity Zone in Roswell, a medical district will grow around North Fulton Community Hospital, Stroud said.