Paulding Jobless Rate Sees Improvement in September

Paulding County showed positive movement on the jobs front Thursday.

The Georgia Department of Labor announced early Thursday that the preliminary unemployment rate in the Northwest Georgia area declined to 8.8 percent in September, down five-tenths of a percentage point from a revised 9.3 percent in August. The rate was 10.3 percent in September 2011.

According to a GDOL news release, Northwest Georgia’s rate declined primarily because the number of unemployed people decreased by 1,843. Also, the number of employed people increased by 5,326.

Thursday’s numbers have Paulding County showing a preliminary unemployment rate of 8 percent, down from August’s preliminary rate of 8.3 percent. Paulding’s initial numbers bested not just the unemployment rate of Northwest Georgia, but also that of metro Atlanta, of which Paulding is a part. The metro Atlanta area saw a preliminary unemployment rate of 8.4 percent in September, down from a revised 8.8 percent in August.

Initial Unemployment Rate – September 2012

• Cobb—7.7 percent.
• Paulding—8 percent.
• Polk—8.4 percent.
• Douglas—8.6 percent.
• Bartow—8.8 percent.
• Carroll—8.9 percent.
• Haralson—8.9 percent.

Officials say the metro area’s rate declined primarily because of 4,446 fewer layoffs in manufacturing, construction, trade, administrative and support services, and accommodations and food services, plus 31,606 more people were employed.

The metro Athens area continued to have the lowest area jobless rate at 6.4 percent, while metro Dalton had the highest at 11.2 percent.

Overall, Georgia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate declined to 9 percent in September, down from 9.2 percent the previous month. The jobless rate was 9.8 percent in September a year ago.

While the state lost 400 jobs from August to September, it gained 61,800 jobs since the 3,877,600 in September 2011, climbing to 3,939,400.