The Georgia Department of Labor announced Thursday morning that the unemployment rate in the Northeast Georgia region in September was 5.3 percent, up three-tenths of a percentage point from 5 percent in August. The rate for the Gainesville metro area remained flat at 4.4 percent.
State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said the rate for the region rose as the labor force and number of new layoffs increased.
In Northeast Georgia, the labor force increased by 3,518 to 293,464. The labor force consists of employed residents and those who are unemployed, but actively looking for jobs. While the number of employed increased by 2,293 to 277,805, the number of unemployed also rose by 1,225 to 15,659, which contributed to the rate hike.
While the jobless for Gainesville was unchanged, the labor force decreased by 229 to 96,039. While the number of employed decreased by 171 to 91,834, the number of unemployed also decreased by 58 to 4,205.
Butler also said the number of jobs in the Gainesville metro decreased by 1,000, or 1.1 percent, to 86,600. Most of the job losses came in the service-related industries such as trade, transportation and warehousing.
The Gainesville metro continues to have the lowest unemployment rate of any metro area in Georgia.
