The Georgia Department of Labor announced a 14.2 percent increase in the state’s jobless rate from the previous month, illuminating the mass layoff of school employees for the summer as the main culprit.
Georgia’s unemployment rate rose to 7.4 percent in June from 7.2 percent in May and the state trails by a wide margin the national rate of recovery. In June, the U.S. unemployment rate was listed at 6.1 percent.
The total number of jobs in June dropped by 18,000 from 4,126,100 in May. Most of the losses came in public and private education, 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.
There was good news, however, the state’s labor department announced. On the positive side, the labor force has increased for the six month in row.
“Georgia employers have created 81,100 jobs since last June, which is the largest June-to-June job growth since 2006,” state Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said in a statement. That helped drive down the jobless rate from 8.4 percent a year ago.
There were 4,108,100 jobs in Georgia in June, up 2 percent from June 2013. The gains came in like this:
- professional and business services — 27,100 new jobs;
- 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.
There were 37,917 new claims for unemployment insurance filed in June. In addition to layoffs of school workers, there were 3,376 new claims in manufacturing, some caused by temporary layoffs. Government lost 5,700 jobs.
The total for those working and looking for work increased by 2,007 to reach 4,782,425 in June.
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