Unemployment rates down in metro Albany, Southwest Georgia

ALBANY — The Georgia Department of Labor announced Thursday that metro Albany’s unemployment rate in October was 6 percent, down from 6.2 percent in September. At the same time, the Labor Department announced that the unemployment rate in the Southwest Georgia region in October was 5.8 percent, down from 6.1 percent the prior month.

The metro Albany rate in October 2015 was 6.6 percent. In Southwest Georgia, the rate last year was 6.3 percent.

The Labor Department said that as the rate declined Albany employers continued to create new jobs and more people went to work. The number of jobs increased by 1.1 percent to 63,300. Most of the job gains came in retail trade and other service industries, along with manufacturing.

Over the year, the metro Albany area gained 1,200 jobs, a 1.9 percent growth rate — mostly in the service industries, including trade, transportation and warehousing, along with manufacturing, labor officials said.

The Labor Department said the metro Albany labor force, which consists of employed residents and those who are unemployed but actively looking for jobs, increased to 67,806. While the number of employed residents increased by 772 to 63,739, the number of unemployed residents declined to 4,067.

The number of metro Albany initial claims for unemployment insurance, a measure of new layoffs, declined by 2.6 percent to 414 in October — mostly in retail trade and health care and social assistance.

Over the year, metro Albany claims were down 19.1 percent from 512 in October 2015, officials said.

“So overall, it is very good news for the Albany area as we saw more people start to look for work, (and) more individuals actually gained employment in the local area, said Labor Commissioner Mark Butler. “So there is a lot to be thankful for in the Albany area.”

As the rate declined in Southwest Georgia, the number of employed residents increased by 2,381, while the number of unemployed decreased by 250. The labor force rose by 2,131 to 150,211.

Initial claims for unemployment insurance in Southwest Georgia rose by 11.5 percent in October. Most of the increase came in real estate, rental and leasing, along with health care and social assistance and professional and technical services, officials said.

Over the year, Southwest Georgia claims were down by 3.2 percent, from 880 in October 2015, according to the Labor Department.

A breakdown of unemployment rates by county released Thursday showed Dougherty at 6.5 percent, Lee at 4.6 percent, Worth at 5.6 percent, Baker at 7.6 percent and Terrell at 6.3 percent. Of the state’s metro areas, the Gainesville area had the lowest rate at 4.4 percent while the Warner Robins area had the highest rate for October at 6.7 percent.

Of the state’s regional areas, the Georgia Mountains area had the highest unemployment rate at 4.5 percent while the Heart of Georgia-Altamaha region had the highest rate for last month at 7 percent.

Georgia’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate for October was 5.2 percent, up from 5.1 percent in September. It was 5.5 percent in October 2015.

Job seekers and employers are encouraged to use the online job listing service, employgeorgia.com, to search for jobs or recruit new employers. In October, 745 new job openings in Albany, and 1,268 new job openings in the Southwest Georgia, were posted on Employ Georgia.

Throughout the state, 70,200 new job openings were posted during the month on Employ Georgia.