Paulding’s Jobless Claims Down

As the state's seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate increased for the first time in almost a year, initial unemployment claims in Paulding County dropped nearly 13 percent from May to June, the announced Thursday.

Last month, Paulding has 458 initial claims, down from 524 the month before. While the county’s rate of initial claims went down, the state’s rate increased 4.5 percent.

Also increasing was the state's seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate, which inched to 9 percent from 8.9 percent in May. Georgia's jobless rate in June a year ago was 9.9 percent.

“The unemployment rate traditionally inches up in June because new graduates and people hunting summer jobs enter the job market at the same time the private and public schools are laying off for the summer,” State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said in a press release.

Paulding County’s preliminary May unemployment rate was 8.3 percent, an increase over April’s revised rate of 7.9 percent. But last month’s rate was better than it was in May 2011, when unemployment stood at 9.3 percent.