Jobless Rate Climbs to 5 Percent in Sandy Springs

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The unemployment rate for Sandy Springs inched higher last month, the Georgia Department of Labor said on Thursday.

The preliminary rate for March for the city was reported at 5 percent, up from 4.9 percent in February. One silver lining: the city’s preliminary rate for March is an improvement from 5.7 percent reported a year ago.

Fulton County’s unemployment rate did fall slightly last month, from 6.4 to 6.2 percent.

Unemployment rates for surrounding cities include: Alpharetta at 4.5 percent; Brookhaven at 2.7 percent; Dunwoody at 4.9 percent; Johns Creek at 4.5 percent; Marietta at 5.7 percent; Milton at 4.5 percent; Roswell at 4.5 percent; Smyrna at 5.8 percent; and Woodstock at 5.7 percent.

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GDOL also reported the metro Atlanta unemployment rate in March fell to 5.9 percent from 6.1 percent in February.

The rate in March 2014 was 7 percent.

The rate declined as employers created more jobs, the state agency notes. The number of jobs in Atlanta increased by 1,900, or 0.1 percent, in March to 2,542,200 from 2,540,300 in February. Most of the gains came in trade, transportation and warehousing at 2,300; leisure and hospitality at 2,200; and professional and business services at 1,700. Most of the losses were recorded in construction at 1,900; and manufacturing at 1,200.

There was an over-the-year gain of 80,500 jobs, or 3.3 percent, from 2,461,700 in March 2014. Most of the job growth came in trade, transportation and warehousing, 21,500; professional and business services, 15,100; education and health services, 12,200; financial activities, 5,400; government, 4,400; construction, 3,900; and manufacturing, 2,100.

On the flip side, GDOL states the number of initial claims for unemployment insurance rose by 233, or 1.7 percent, to 14,267 in March, which is up from 14,034 in February.

Most of the increase came in a variety of industries, including professional and technical services, educational services, information services, wholesale trade, finance and insurance and health care and social assistance. Over the year, claims were up by 227, or 1.6 percent, from 14,040 filed in March 2014.

Georgia’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate for March was 6.3 percent, which was the same figure reported for February. It was 7.3 percent in March 2014.

Local area unemployment data are not seasonally adjusted. Georgia labor market data are available on GDOL’s website.

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