Smyrna's Unemployment Rate Rises to 8.4%

Smyrna's jobless rate increased to 8.4 percent in January, rising by three tenths of a percent from December 2012.

The 30,238 workers in the civilian labor force as only slightly fewer than in December. But there were 110 fewer people working in the first month of the year, according to statistics from the Georgia Department of Labor.

The city still had the lowest unemployment rate of the three municipalities for which the department collects data. However, it was higher than the overall average jobless rate for Cobb County, which was 7.8 percent. It appears that people in unincorporated parts of the county have a lower jobless rate.

This year's unemployment rate was still a full percentage point lower than that of January 2012 for Smyrna, when it reached 9.4 percent.

City               Rate
Kennesaw       9.0%
Marietta          8.7
Smyrna           8.4
Cobb County   7.8
Metro Atlanta   8.7
Georgia           8.7

Kennesaw – 9.0%

Kennesaw's unemployment rate of 9.0 not only was the highest in Cobb County for January, it was higher than the metro Atlanta and Georgia averages, which were 8.7 percent.

If that 8.7 percent seems familiar, it might be because that was what the December 2012 unemployment rate was for Kennesaw. Still, the January rate was a far cry from a year ago, when unemployment was measured at 10.6 percent.

The city in northwest Cobb had almost as many workers in January as the month before, with 16,951 still counted as part of the civilian labor force. but there werre more unemployed, too, with 1,520 counted as not working.

Marietta – 8.7%

Marietta matched metro Atlanta and Georgia with its 8.7 percent unemployment rate in January. But that was an increase of three tenths of a percent from December 2012.

The city had 31,990 people counted in the labor force, but 22,784 of them were unemployed.

The slight increase still keeps the jobless rate far below the rate of a year ago, when it was 9.8 percent.