Metro Athens unemployment rate is up seven-tenths of a percentage point for the month of June. The Georgia Department of Labor released the numbers today Commissioner Mark Butler says the news isn’t all bad.
“Well the Athens jobs report is very interesting this month because you’re almost talking a full point increase in the unemployment rate,” Butler said. “Most of the news is actually good because not only did the Athens area gain about 400 jobs in the month of June, but we also saw the number of individuals employed increase by over 200.
Butler says the jump is due to both high school and college students entering the job market.
“So you would think with those two factors that… you’d see the unemployment rate go down. Well, being Athens where it is and that university we have right there located close by downtown; we actually saw the labor force due to new graduates increase tremendously, by over 1,000 individuals and that was the main force driving the unemployment rate up for the Athens areas.”
Over-the year Athens added 2300 new jobs. Metro Gainesville had the lowest area jobless rate at 4.3 percent, while the River Valley region was highest at 6.4 percent.
Job seekers and employers are encouraged to use the GDOL’s online job listing service employgeorgia.com to search for jobs or recruit new employees.
