Jobless Rate Rises to 8.7% in Marietta

Marietta's unemployment rate of 8.7 percent was slightly higher than the Metro Atlanta rate for February, but the jobless rate might prove to have been lower when figures are revised.

The Georgia Department of Labor originally reported Marietta's unemployment rate at 8.7 percent for January, but revisions released today show it was actually 8.4 percent. That's three-tenths of a percent better than what was first reported.

Out of the 31,990 members of the city's labor force, 2,784 of them were counted as unemployed.

Marietta's unemployment rate a year ago was considerably worse, being recorded at 9.8 percent.

Overall Cobb County's February unemployment rate was better than Marietta's, with 7.4 percent of the labor force considered jobless. That was a drop of four-tenths of a percent from January.

City                     Rate
Alpharetta             6.4%
Atlanta                11.2
Douglasville         11.0
Johns Creek          7.0
Kennesaw             9.0
Marietta               8.7
Roswell                 6.5

Sandy Springs       6.5

Smyrna                8.4
Metro Atlanta        8.3

Georgia                8.6

Metro Atlanta’s unemployment rate declined to 8.3 percent in February, down four-tenths of a percentage point from 8.7 percent in January. The rate was 9.3 percent in February a year ago.

The rate declined because the number of jobs increased and there were fewer new layoffs, which were represented by initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits.

The number of jobs in metro Atlanta increased by 6,400, climbing to 2,369,000 from 2,362,600 in January. Most of the growth came in professional and business services, 5,000, and education and health care, 2,500. Some seasonal jobs were lost in trade, transportation, and warehousing.