Georgia’s unemployment rate declined slightly last month, but the drop was due to more workers giving up on finding work rather than an improving labor market, state officials said today.
The Georgia Department of Labor reported today that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate across Georgia fell to 10 percent in June, down one-tenth of a percentage point from a revised 10.1 percent in May.
Georgia’s labor force shrunk by 17,953 in June, as long-term unemployed workers lost hope for finding new jobs. This is the largest over-the-month decline in the labor force since May 2001.
“Georgia’s job market is showing signs of renewed deterioration,” Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond said in a statement. “A sharp increase in the number of discouraged workers, rising long-term unemployment, increased new layoffs, and anemic job growth suggests that the fledgling economic recovery may be losing steam.”
The number of payroll jobs in June decreased by 9,400, or 0.2 percent. Over the past year, the number of Georgian on the job is down by 49,600, or 1.3 percent.