Rome/Floyd tops 40,000-job milestone — and did so earlier than most knew. Georgia’s jobless rate lowest in almost seven years.
There’s probably some high fives being passed around town in the business community today has Rome/Floyd County’s work force has finally hit the 40,0000-job mark. Then again, revised reports from the Georgia Department of Labor show we hit said milestone during the final months of 2014 and even retreated a bit in January of this year. That’s a normal drop given the end of the Christmas shopping season. In fact, the local labor force grew by 700 jobs January vs. January. But that was down by 500 jobs from December — again, part of the typical employment rollercoaster for this time of year.
A county-by-county look at January first-time unemployment insurance reports vs. the same month in 2014 shows:
- Floyd: 1,115, down 5 percent from January 2014.
- Bartow: 837, up 37.7 percent year over year.
- Gordon: 996, yp 16.9 percent over 12 months.
- Polk: 441, down 33.6 percent.
- Chattooga: 56, up 3.7 percent.
Media release: The Georgia Department of Labor announced today that the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for January was 6.4 percent, its lowest level since July 2008 when it was 6.3 percent. The rate was down two-tenths of a percentage point from a revised 6.6 percent in December. The rate in January 2014 was 7.3 percent. (We’ll get county-by-county reports next Thursday)
“Our unemployment rate dropped for the seventh month in a row as we had 4,400 fewer jobs available than in December,” said State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler. “We also had fewer new claims for unemployment insurance benefits, which is a measure of new layoffs.”
The number of seasonally-adjusted jobs in January declined 0.1 percent, to 4,222,100, down from 4,226,500 in December. Much of the loss was related to temporary holiday jobs. Most of the job losses came in administrative and support services, including temporary employment agencies, 5,000; retail trade, transportation, and warehousing, along with construction, 2,800 each; and information services, 2,200. The job gains were in manufacturing, 3,900; wholesale trade, 3,400; finance and insurance, 2,700; and health care and social assistance, 1,900.
“But, while we lost those seasonal jobs in January, as often do, we had the strongest January-to-January growth we’ve had in 20 years,” said Butler. “And, six of our job sectors grew at least three percent.”
Over the year, the state gained a seasonally-adjusted 131,900 jobs, or 3.2 percent, from 4,090,200 in January 2014. Ninety-five percent of the job growth, or 125,800 jobs, was in the private sector. Most of the gains came in trade, transportation and warehousing, 33,500; professional and business services, 24,900; leisure and hospitality, 22,300; education and health services, 17,600; and manufacturing, 13,100; and, financial activities, 7,000.
Also, in January, the number of initial claims for unemployment insurance declined to 57,194, down by 316, or 0.5 percent, from 57,510 in December. Most of the decrease came in accommodations and food services. And, claims were down by 897, or 1.5 percent, from 58,091 in January 2014. The over-the-year decline came in a wide range of industries, including trade, transportation and warehousing, accommodations and food services, and the construction industry.
