Georgia’s Jobless Rate Falls for Third Straight Month

Georgia’s unemployment rate is at least heading in the right direction.

State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler announced today, Jan. 19, that Georgia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped to 9.7 percent in December marking the third straight month the rate has decreased.

“The rate declined because 11,500 Georgians went back to work in December,” said Butler in a released statement. “Plus, we saw some increases in employment in areas that have been especially hard hit.”

The construction, manufacturing, information services, trade and transportation sectors added jobs last month, but the overall number of jobs dropped 7,300 with roughly one-half of the losses attributed to seasonal jobs.

“Although there were fewer jobs overall than last December, the private sector actually created 11,300 jobs over the year, which is a positive, but those gains were off-set by 20,300 job cuts in state and local government as the public sector adjusted to shrinking budgets,” Butler added.

First-time claims for unemployment insurance benefits rose 10.7 percent from November but were down 15.8 percent from December of 2010. The number of long-term unemployed workers decreased to 245,100, the lowest number since October of 2010.

In Forsyth County the unemployment rate was 7.1 percent as of November 2011. The jobless rate number is down to 1.1 percent from where it was in November 2010 at 8.2 percent.

The November number represents residents who are 16 years and older with 86,954 making up the labor force in the county, 80,746 who are employed and 6,208 who are unemployed.

"Forsyth County is following the state trend of a declining unemployment rate," said John Ard, spokesperson with the Georgia Department of Labor. "I'll be shocked if Forsyth isn't down again."

The latest county numbers [for December 2011] will be released next Thursday, Jan. 26.

“This is great news for our state, particularly for Georgians who have faced a tough job market for several years now,” said Gov. Nathan Deal in a released statement. “A decrease in unemployment alongside a number of other positive economic indicators suggests we are heading in the right direction. I am fully committed to making Georgia the No. 1 state in the nation in which to do business. Working cooperatively with Commissioner Butler, we will do everything in our power to move Georgians from unemployment rolls to payrolls, creating a better quality of life for all those who call Georgia home.”