October metro unemployment rates
Atlanta: 9.2
Cobb: 6.5
Clayton: 8.6
DeKalb: 7.3
Fulton: 7.9
Gwinnett: 6.3
Source: Georgia Department of Labor
Metro Atlanta’s new jobless rate - 7.0 percent for October - follows a familiar good news, bad news script.
The 28-county region’s unemployment rate, released Thursday, is down from 7.3 the previous month and 7.6 this time last year. The metro area added 18,800 jobs during the month, according to the state Labor Department.
Metro Atlanta’s unemployment rate is considerably lower than the state average of 7.7 percent, released previously, though the metro rate is not “seasonally adjusted” and could shift slightly.
But while the metro and state jobless rates have declined, both continue to far exceed the national rate of 5.8 percent. And numerous rural Georgia counties are still suffering double-digit unemployment.
Kennesaw State University economist Roger Tutterow said Thursday’s report shows metro Atlanta’s jobs picture is steadily improving.
“The (unemployment) rate is still elevated but we’ve made significant progress is bringing it back down,” he said, noting that the region has added about 57,000 jobs in the past 12 months.
Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said the metro area’s monthly jobs gain was better than normal for this time of year: 13 percent stronger than in the past three years.
Not surprisingly, about half of the jobs were added in trade, transportation and warehousing, areas Butler said are associated with holiday hiring.
However, there were 15,726 new claims for unemployment insurance filed in October, an increase of 10.5 percent from September. Tutterow cautioned against reading too much into a one-month jump, which could be based on any number of short-term factors.
Metro Athens had the state’s lowest regional jobless rate at 5.4 percent, while the Heart of Georgia-Altamaha region in rural southeast Georgia had the highest at 9.3 percent.
