Suffolk’s unemployment rate improved from 6.5 percent in July to 6 percent in August, according to preliminary U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics figures.

The change in the unemployment rate marks the first improvement in the indicator since April, when the rate fell from 5.7 percent the month before to 5.5 percent.

According to the early August figures, Suffolk’s labor force numbered 42,802, of which 2,571 were out of work.