State Unemployment Rate Drops as Fewer File Claims

More jobs and fewer layoffs in most metro Atlanta counties helped push the state's unemployment rate down to 8.4 percent, it's lowest since December 2008.

The Georgia Department of Labor announced today that Georgia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dipped to 8.4 percent in March, the lowest rate since December 2008. The rate declined from 8.6 percent in February because of an increase in the number of jobs and fewer new layoffs. The rate was down from 9.1 percent in March a year ago. “Georgia employers created 23,700 jobs last month, which is one of the best job growth numbers we’ve had in March for almost a decade,” said State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler. “The growth was in several industries, led by leisure and hospitality and professional and business services.” Additional growth came in trade, transportation and warehousing, construction and local government. The March growth …

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Georgia's Unemployment Rate Declines

The state's unemployment rate hit 8.5 percent in November.

State Unemployment Rate Sees Improvement

The metro Atlanta area, of which Paulding is a part, saw 33,700 more jobs in October versus the same month in 2011.

The Georgia Department of Labor announced Thursday that the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate declined to 8.7 percent in October, down from 9 percent in September. The jobless rate was 9.7 percent in October 2011. “The unemployment rate dropped because we had an increase of 36,000 new jobs, which is the largest September to October job increase ever,” State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said in a news release. “That job growth pushed the number of jobs in October to the highest level in any month since December of 2008.” Statewide, there were 3,971,700 jobs in October, up 0.9 percent, from 3,935,700 in September. The growth came in retail trade, up 8,000; education and health care, up 7,000; professional and business services…

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Paulding Jobless Rate Sees Improvement in September

Initial numbers show better jobless numbers for the county versus the Northwest Georgia area.

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 …

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Paulding Unemployment Drops to 9.1%

Almost 600 more people who live in the county gained jobs in November.

The unemployment news for November was excellent for Georgia and the Atlanta area; it was even better for Paulding County. The jobless rate in Paulding fell to 9.1 percent in November from 9.9 percent in October and 10.5 percent in November 2010, according to preliminary figures the Georgia Department of Labor released Thursday. The Labor Department originally reported October’s rate at 10 percent but revised the number downward, just as it revised the September figure from 10.3 percent to 10.2 percent. The local numbers are not adjusted for seasonal factors. But they do reflect real job growth. Almost 600 more Paulding residents had jobs at the end of November than were working a month earlier, and the county added more than 1,400 jobs …

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