Metro Atlanta’s Unemployment Rate Rises to 8.9% in June

Metro Atlanta’s unemployment rate increased to 8.9 percent in June, up seven-tenths of a percentage point from 8.2 percent in May, according to the Georgia Department of Labor.

The rate was 9.3 percent in June a year ago.

The rate increased primarily because of two seasonal factors: large numbers of education workers are unemployed during the summer and new graduates are considered unemployed until they find a job, according to the GDOL.

Although the jobless rate increased, the number of jobs in metro Atlanta grew for the fifth consecutive month, up by 4,300 or two-tenths of a percentage point, from 2,408,500 in May to 2,412,800.

While the private sector actually added 7,800 jobs, the overall gain was reduced by a loss of 3,500 jobs in government. Most of the job gains came in professional and business services, 4,400; leisure and hospitality, 2,600; financial services, 2,200; information services, 1,000; manufacturing, 600; and construction, 500.

Over the year, the number of jobs increased by 56,300, or 2.4 percent, from 2,356,500 in June 2012. The job gains came in professional and business services, 20,200; trade and transportation, 10,800; health care and social assistance, 10,400; leisure and hospitality, 8,300; information services, 4,800; construction, 4,200; and financial services, 3,300.

The labor force, which is the number of people employed plus those unemployed but actively looking for work, rose to 2,766,961 in June, up by 4,061 from 2,762,900 in May. It was up by 26,785 from 2,740,176 in June 2012.

Metro Athens had the lowest area jobless rate at 7.2 percent, while the Heart of Georgia-Altamaha region had the highest at 12.9 percent.

Meanwhile, Georgia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for June was 8.6 percent, up from 8.3 percent in May. The rate was 9.1 percent in June a year ago.