Unemployment up for Three Rivers region

Friday, July 30, 2010
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By JEFF BISHOP jbishop@newnan.com The area unemployment rate is heading up again, rising one-tenth of a percentage point to 11.2 percent in June for the Three Rivers Commission region which includes Coweta County -- but Coweta County's rate continues to inch downward, bit by bit. Coweta's preliminary unemployment rate for June was 9.7 percent.

"That's just preliminary, it will probably bounce around a bit when the final figures are issued next month," said Peter Ludlow of the Georgia Department of Labor's Newnan Career Center in Shenandoah Industrial Park. Coweta's unemployment rate continues to slide downward, from 9.8 percent for May to 9.7 percent in June, finally back in the single digits for two straight months and marking the fifth straight month of decline after peaking above 11 percent in the winter. Barring May and June, the last time the Coweta local unemployment rate was in the single digits was last November. The Georgia Department of Labor reported that the state's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate declined to 10 percent in June, down one-tenth of a percentage point from a revised 10.1 percent in May. This is the 33rd consecutive month Georgia has exceeded the national unemployment rate, now at 9.5 percent. Initial claims filed for unemployment benefits in Coweta inched up in June but is still down from the same time last year, according to the Department of Labor. In June, 721 initial claims were filed in Coweta for unemployment benefits -- an increase of 44 claims, or 6.5 percent, from May. However, the number of claims is way down from the 1,155 filed one year ago, in June 2009 -- a 37.6 percent decrease, with 434 fewer claims filed. The increase goes against the recent trend of decreasing initial claims filed from month to month. The 677 initial claims in May was down 2.3 percent from the 693 filed in April. From March to April there was an even bigger 26 percent drop in initial claims. Nationally, initial claims for jobless benefits have dropped to their lowest level in almost two years. The number of claims fell by 29,000 to 429,000 in the week ending July 10. The drop was attributed to the lack of summer shutdowns in factories in multiple states. For the week ending July 3, states showing the biggest jumps in initial jobless claims were New York, New Jersey and Michigan. States posting the largest decreases in those claims were Florida and Georgia. In June, 64,794 laid-off workers in Georgia filed initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits, an increase of 6,875, or 11.9 percent, from 57,919 in May. However, there was a decline of 23,962 initial claims, or 27.0 percent, from 88,756 filed in June 2009. Most of the first-time claims were filed in wholesale and retail trade, manufacturing and construction, and administrative and support services. "Georgia's job market is showing signs of renewed deterioration," said state Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond. "A sharp increase in the number of discouraged workers, rising long-term unemployment, increased new layoffs, and anemic job growth suggest that the fledgling economic recovery may be losing steam." 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. The number of payroll jobs in June decreased 9,400, or two-tenths of a percentage point, from 3,838,400 in May to 3,829,000. And the number of jobs remains less than in June 2009, when there were 3,878,600 payroll jobs, 1.3 percent, or 49,600 more than this year. In June, there were 230,000 long-term unemployed Georgians (out of work 27 weeks or longer). This represents an increase of 123,900, or 116.8 percent, from 106,100 long-term unemployed in June 2009. And it represents an increase of 4,300, or 1.9 percent, from 225,700 in May. The long-term unemployed now account for 49 percent of the 469,022 jobless workers in Georgia. New evidence of a slowing economic rebound emerged this week in reports that manufacturing activity is slowing after helping drive the early stages of the recovery, the Associated Press reported. Factory output fell in June, according to a government report on industrial production. It was the sharpest monthly drop in a year. And two regional manufacturing indexes sank this month. Production of automobiles, home-building materials and processed food all fell in June, according to AP. The data sent stocks falling. Federal Reserve officials took note of the weakening recovery when they met last month and lowered their forecast for economic growth, according to minutes released Wednesday. Manufacturing helped boost the economy last year when the recession ended and has since been one of the strongest sectors in the recovery. June's decline in output was the first in four months. Overall industrial production ticked up for the month, but that was mainly the result of hot weather that increased demand for electricity from utilities. The preliminary unadjusted unemployment rate in metro Atlanta rose to 10.3 percent in June, up five-tenths of a percentage point from a revised 9.8 percent in May. Meanwhile, the number of unemployed workers in the metro area increased to 273,405, up 12,568 from 260,837. In metro Atlanta, the number of payroll jobs decreased 1,000, from 2,269,500 in May to 2,268,500. The U.S Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports that Georgia lost more jobs from June 2009 to June 2010 than any other state but California. Also in June, 31,434 laid off workers in metro Atlanta filed initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits, an increase of 3,367, or 12.0 percent, from 28,067 in May. Statewide, 64,794 laid-off workers filed initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits, an increase of 6,875, or 11.9 percent, from 57,919 in May. However, there was a decline of 23,962 initial claims, or 27.0 percent, from 88,756 filed in June 2009. Most of the first-time claims were filed in wholesale and retail trade, manufacturing and construction, and administrative and support services. The local area unemployment rates are not seasonally adjusted. Georgia labor market data are available at www.dol.state.ga.us

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