Figures released this week by the Georgia Dept. of Labor (DOL) showed a small drop in unemployment to 9 percent in Fayette County and 7.9 percent in Peachtree City. Unemployment in the 10-county Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) also fell slightly to 10.7 percent.
Fayette County saw a drop in unemployment in March to 9 percent compared to the 9.3 percent rate in February. Fayette County has a workforce of 51,035, with 4,582 of those people jobless in March. Fayette’s unemployment rate in March 2009 was 7.3 percent, with 3,823 out of work.
Peachtree City’s jobless rate in March fell slightly to 7.9 percent compared to the 8 percent rate in February. The 7.9 percent rate reflects 1,288 people out of work compared to 1,304 who were unemployed in February. Peachtree City’s unemployment in March 2009 stood at 6.5 percent .
Next door in Coweta, the March jobless rate dropped to 10.8 percent from the 11.2 percent rate in February. Coweta’s unemployment rate was 8.5 percent a year ago.
The ARC saw a relatively significant decrease in the unemployment rate in March. The February rate of 10.6 percent was replaced in March with a rate of 10.2 percent. The 10.2 rate represents 217,556 people still out of work in a workforce of 2.124 million.
Jobless rates across the 28-county Atlanta Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) decreased in March to 10.4 percent, compared to the 10.7 percent rate in February. DOL numbers show 277,953 people unemployed out of a workforce of 2.667 million.
Fayette is one of a handful of Atlanta MSA counties with an unemployment rate under 10.4 percent. Others with the lower rate include Cobb, Gwinnett, Cherokee and Forsyth counties. Except for Clayton County at more than 12 percent, the other Atlanta MSA counties have rates between 10.4-11.9 percent.
Statewide the unemployment rate rose again in March, with February’s 10.5 percent rate replaced with a rate of 10.6 percent. That figure represents 497,500 people out of work in a labor force of 4.711 million.
And across the United States, the unemployment rate for March decreased to 10.2 percent, down from 10.4 percent in February. Those numbers represent 15.678 million people unemployed in a workforce of 153.7 million.
Unemployment numbers do not reflect the individuals that are underemployed or those who have stopped looking for work.
