Downtown Dalton, Ga.Unemployment in the carpet capital fell last month to its lowest level in more than seven years with the addition of 1,100 jobs in metropolitan Dalton over the past year.
The Georgia Department of Labor said today that the unemployment rate for August in metro Dalton fell a full percentage point from the previous month to 6.3 percent – the lowest monthly rate since April 2008. The rate in August 2014 was 9.4 percent.
The rate declined as the number of initial claims for unemployment insurance, a measure of new layoffs, nearly fell in half last month, dropping to 639 in August. Most of the decrease came in manufacturing and administrative and support services. Over the year, claims were down by 1,245, or 66.1 percent, from 1,884 in August 2014.
Employers in metro Dalton added 200 jobs during August. In the 12 months ended last month, employment grew 1.6 percent, or 1,100 jobs, to 68,300 jobs in metro Dalton, which includes Whitfield and Murray counties.
Most of the job gains came in manufacturing and trade, including job additions at many carpet mills. Dalton is the self-described Carpet Capital of the world, making more than two thirds of all floorcoverings for the U.S. market. As housing and commercial construction has rebounded and remodeling has increased, carpet and tile sales also have risen.
Statewide, Georgia’s seasonally adjusted jobless rate last month was 5.9 percent.
Metro Gainesville had the lowest area jobless rate last month at 4.8 percent, while the Heart of Georgia-Altamaha region had the highest at 7.7 percent.