Metro Atlanta’s unemployment rate rose to 7.2 percent in January from 6.8 percent in December, as employers laid off workers after the holiday season, the state labor department said Thursday.
The local jobless rate, which is not seasonally adjusted, typically increases in January. A year ago, for example, metro Atlanta’s unemployment rate rose 0.3 percentage points. Two years ago, it ticked up 0.2 percentage points.
This January, metro Atlanta lost 39,700 mostly seasonal jobs. The bulk of the losses came in trade, transportation, and warehousing — 12,500 jobs; professional and business services — 9,800; leisure and hospitality — 5,000; education and health care — 3,900; construction — 2,900; and manufacturing — 2,000.
Although the metro area lost jobs in January, the loss was less than the average January loss of 44,500 jobs for the last five years.
While the number of jobs declined over the month, it increased by 58,600 since January 2013, when the unemployment rate was 8.8 percent. Most of the annual gains were in trade, transportation, and warehousing — 15,300 jobs; leisure and hospitality — 13,500; professional and business services — 12,400; construction — 6,800; education and health care — 6,000; and financial services — 4,100. Government, meanwhile, lost 1,600 jobs over the past year.
The number of new layoffs, represented by initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits, decreased in January by 0.7 percent from December. Most of the decline in claims came in accommodations and food services, and construction.
For the core metro counties, Gwinnett posted the lowest jobless rate at 6.3 percent. Cobb was next at 6.4 percent, followed by DeKalb (7.6 percent), Fulton (7.9 percent) and Clayton (9.3 percent).
Statewide, metro Athens had the lowest area jobless rate at 5.4 percent, while the Heart of Georgia-Altamaha region had the highest at 9.8 percent.
Last week, the state labor department said Georgia’s unemployment rate, which is seasonally adjusted, fell to 7.3 percent in January from 7.4 percent in December.
Both the state and metro Atlanta continue to trail the national rate, currently 6.7 percent.
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