Georgia Unemployment Rate Increases in July

The Georgia Department of Labor announced on Thursday that the state’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate sat at 7.8 percent for the month of July, an increase from June.

According to the department, the increase from June’s rate of 7.4 percent was due to seasonal layoffs in manufacturing and government sectors. Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said that most of those laid off workers are already back on the job.

Since July of 2013, the state has created 83,000 new jobs, equaling a 2.1 percent total increase. However, the total number of people in the workforce dropped by almost 5,000 between June and July, the first such drop of 2014.