Forsyth Unemployment Drops in August, but Metro Rate Hits 8 Percent

The unemployment rate in metro Atlanta increased slightly to 8.0 percent in August, according to labor force estimates released Thursday morning by the Georgia Department of Labor.

The July jobless rate was 7.9 percent, up from 7.6 in June. The metro rate in May was 7.3 percent. The rate in August 2013 was 7.9 percent.

Forsyth County’s unemployment rate decreased from 6.2 to 6.1 percent between July and August. The county’s unemployment rate was at 6.0 percent this time last year. 1,398 fewer Forsyth County citizens were in the workforce in August compared to July, and 150 more residents were out of work in August than in July.

In nearby Gainesville, the unemployment rate dropped from 8.3 to 8.1 percent between July and August. In August of 2013, Kennesaw’s unemployment rate was at 7.6 percent. 184 Gainesville residents left the workforce between July and August of this year, and 46 lost their jobs during the same time period.

In July, metro Athens had the lowest area jobless rate in Georgia at 6.4 percent, while metro Dalton had the highest rate at 10.7 percent.

Paradoxically, although the unemployment rate increased in the metro Atlanta area, the number of jobs between July and August increased by 5,900 to 2,470,660. Most of the new jobs were created in state and local government, private education and health services, manufacturing, and construction.

Additionally, first time unemployment claims dropped 22.9 percent during the same stretch. Since August 2013, 51,400 jobs have been created in the metro Atlanta area, the second-best over-the-year job growth rate since 2007. The top job-creating field over the past 12 months in the metro Atlanta area has been in professional and business services, with 17,600 new jobs in the sector since this time last year.

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