Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler says Athens’s June job numbers showed typical summer fluctuations.
“We saw the unemployment rate increase by 9-tenths a point up to 4.1 percent,” Butler said.
During the month, the labor force grew faster than could be absorbed through hiring, causing the unemployment rate to rise. At the same time, the number of jobs and employed residents fell across the four-county metropolitan statistical area (MSA).
“What is the big reason for the rate going up?’ It has to do with the fact that we saw over 700 individuals that had previously not been looking for work start their job search in June, which is good news because we have a lot of jobs in the Athens area.”
Still, all indicators remain positive for the year.
“We took a look at the Department of Labor’s job search engine, employgeorgia.com, we saw over 900 jobs were actually posted during the month of June,” according to Butler. “That’s good news for those 700 new individuals who have joined that labor force in the Athens area is the fact that there are a lot of job openings. So the reasons for the unemployment rate going up in Athens are good reasons.”
Athens lost 200 jobs for the month, its total settling at 99,000. This puts Athens up 1,400 jobs for the year.
The four-county MSA includes Clarke, Madison, Oconee and Oglethorpe counties.
