Metro Dalton’s jobless rate remains unchanged

Published 12:42 pm Friday, August 26, 2016

DALTON, Ga. — Metro Dalton’s unemployment rate remained at 6.3 percent from June to July, according to the Georgia Department of Labor.

The rate in July of 2015 was 7.2 percent. Metro Dalton includes Whitfield and Murray counties.

The department said the number of the employed increased by 395 to 57,978, while the number of unemployed increased by 46 to 3,906. “The labor force, which consists of employed people and those who are unemployed but actively looking for jobs, grew by 441 to 61,884 in July,” the department said in a press release.

Other findings:

• The number of jobs decreased by 300 to 68,300. Most of the losses were in the goods-producing sector, which includes manufacturing and construction.

• Over the year, Metro Dalton gained 1,100 jobs, a 1.6 percent growth rate, up from 67,200 in July 2015. Most of those were in trade, transportation and warehousing, professional and business services, and the goods-producing sector, the department said.

• The number of initial claims for unemployment insurance rose by 625, or 66.6 percent, to 1,563 in July. Most of that increase was in manufacturing and administrative and support services. Over the year, claims were up by 303, or 24 percent, from 1,260 in July 2015.

• Metro Gainesville had the lowest area jobless rate at 4.6 percent, while the Heart of Georgia-Altamaha region had the highest at 7 percent.

The state’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate for July was 5 percent, down from 5.1 percent in June. It was 5.7 percent in July 2015.

Local area unemployment data are not seasonally adjusted. Georgia labor market data are available at www.dol.georgia.gov.