Jobs: DeKalb Sees Significant Drop in Unemployment Rate

The jobless rate in metro Atlanta fell significantly last month, according to data released by the Georgia Department of Labor Thursday.

The September unemployment rate was 7.3 percent, down from August’s rate of 8.0. The metro rate a year ago was 7.6 percent.

In the portion of DeKalb County closest to Atlanta, the rate fell more than a point. September’s rate was 7.1 (not seasonally adjusted), down from August’s 8.2. The rate was 7.5 in September 2013.

In Dunwoody, the September unemployment rate was 5.6, down from 6.4 in August. The rate was 5.7 in September 2013.

The labor department said there were nearly 20,000 fewer unemployed works last month in metro Atlanta, and there were fewer layoffs. There also were around 4,000 fewer jobs (down to 2,468,600), much of that decrease coming from professional and business services, leisure and hospitality, and the return to school by students who worked during the summer.

Increases in jobs came in government, education and health, construction, and trade and transportation.

There was an over-the-year gain of 51,900 jobs in the metro, or 2.2 percent, from September 2013’s 2,416,700. This was the second largest September-to-September growth since 2007.

Metro Athens had the lowest area jobless rate at 5.7 percent, while the Heart of Georgia-Altamaha region had the highest at 9.5 percent.

Georgia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for September was 7.9 percent, down from 8.1 percent in August. It was 8.0 percent in September 2013.
Note: Local area unemployment data are not seasonally adjusted. Georgia labor market data are available at www.gdol.ga.gov