Georgia’s unemployment rate rises to 7.4 percent in June

ATLANTA — The Georgia Department of Labor announced today that Georgia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for June was 7.4 percent, up two-tenths of a percentage point from 7.2 percent in May. The rate in June of last year was 8.4 percent.

“Although the rate increased, it’s because of seasonal factors, such as the summer job loss among non-contract school workers and temporary layoffs, primarily in manufacturing,” said State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler. “We also saw our labor force increase for the sixth month in a row.”

“But, the really good news is that Georgia employers have created 81,100 jobs since last June,” Butler continued, “which is the largest June-to-June job growth since 2006.”

There were 4,108,100 jobs in Georgia in June, up 2.0 percent from 4,027,000 in June 2013. The job gainers were in professional and business services, 27,100; trade, transportation and warehousing, 20,400; leisure and hospitality, 18,600; manufacturing, 6,900; construction, 6,400; education and health services, 4,000; information services, 1,900; and financial services, 1,700. Government lost 5,700 jobs.

However, the number of jobs in June was down by 18,000, or 0.4 percent, from 4,126,100 in May. Virtually all of the loss came in public and private educational services, along with social assistance, which includes pre-school and daycare centers. For the past three years, the state has lost an average of 18,000 seasonal jobs from May to June.

The labor force increased to 4,782,425, up by 2,007 from 4,780,418 in May.

There were 37,917 new claims for unemployment insurance filed in June, an increase of 4,726, or 14.2 percent, from 33,191 in May. Of the increase, 3,376 claims were in manufacturing.

However, over the year, initial claims were down by 4.7 percent. There were 1,860 fewer claims filed than the 39,777 in June 2013. Most of the decline over the year came in educational services, construction, accommodations and food services, and trade, transportation and warehousing.

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