Metro Atlanta’s unemployment rate rose to 6.2 percent in January from 6.0 percent in December, primarily because employers laid off temporary workers after the holiday season, the state labor department said Thursday.
The metro area lost 35,100 jobs, with new claims for unemployment insurance increasing by 7 percent.
The number of jobs in metro Atlanta declined by 1.4 percent from December. Most of the job loss came in retail trade, transportation and warehousing, professional and business services, leisure and hospitality, state and local government, and information services.
Despite the monthly loss, mainly in seasonal jobs, Atlanta had the largest January-to-January job growth ever recorded, the labor department said. The metro area added 104,400 jobs — an increase of 4.3 percent from January 2014 when the unemployment rate was 7.1 percent.
Seven job sectors experienced 4 percent growth or higher over the past year. They were: trade, transportation, and warehousing — 26,100 new jobs; professional and business services — 21,400; leisure and hospitality — 16,700; education and health services — 12,900t; financial activities — 7,500; construction — 5,600; and other services — 3,900.
For the core metro Atlanta counties, Cobb and Gwinnett had the lowest jobless rates at 5.5 percent. They were followed by Fulton at 6.5 percent, DeKalb (6.6 percent) and Clayton (8.3 percent).
Last week, the labor department said Georgia’s unemployment rate was 6.4 percent in January.
Both the state and metro Atlanta continue to post higher unemployment rates than the national average. That was 5.7 percent in January and fell to 5.5 percent in February. Georgia’s rate for February is scheduled to be released next Thursday.
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