Unemployment Down a Notch

While it's one of the 117 counties in Georgia with an unemployment rate more than 10 percent, preliminary indications are that Bartow's jobless rate notched down one-tenth of a percentage point from June to July.

's seasonally unadjusted, preliminary unemployment rate for July is 10.7 percent, down from 10.8 percent the previous month. The same time last year, it was 11.4 percent.

The preliminary unadjusted unemployment rate in northwest Georgia was unchanged at 10.7 percent from June to July. The jobless rate in the area in July a year ago was 10.8 percent.

Metro Atlanta's preliminary unadjusted unemployment rate decreased to 10.4 percent in July, down one-tenth of a percentage point from 10.5 percent in June. The jobless rate in metro Atlanta in July a year ago also was 10.4 percent.

The rate declined because there were 14,000 more residents of metro Atlanta employed in July than in June. And, there were fewer layoffs in health care and social assistance, educational services, and accommodations and food services.

The lowest area rates, at 7.9 percent, were recorded in Athens and Warner Robins, while the highest, at 12.8 percent, was in the Heart of Georgia-Altamaha area near Dublin.

Meanwhile, Georgia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 10.1 percent in July, up two-tenths of a percentage point from 9.9 percent in June. The state’s jobless rate was also 10.1 percent in July a year ago.

The July increase, as in June, was due primarily to the traditional seasonal layoffs, with about 80 percent of them in state and local education.

July marked the 48th consecutive month Georgia has exceeded the national unemployment rate, which is currently 9.1 percent, down from 9.2 percent in June.