Community Corner
Georgia’s Jobless Rate Rises, But There is Good News
The state has seen significant job increases since June 2013.
The state unemployment rate rose slightly in June, the Georgia Department of Labor said Thursday.
Georgia’s seasonally adjusted jobless rate for June was 7.4 percent, two-tenths of a percentage point higher than May’s rate of 7.2.
The rate was still a full point down from June 2013, which was at 8.4 percent. Also good news, according to State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler, was an overall increase of 81,000 jobs since last June, the largest June-to-June growth since 2006.
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However, the number of jobs in June was down — though not unexpectedly — by 18,000, or 0.4 percent, from May. Most of the losses came in public and private educational services jobs, the labor department said.
“Although the rate increased, it’s because of seasonal factors, such as the summer job loss among non-contract school workers and temporary layoffs, primarily in manufacturing,” Butler said in a press release. “We also saw our labor force increase for the sixth month in a row.”
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The labor department said the state has lost an average of 18,000 seasonal jobs from May to June the last three years.
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