Unemployment inched down slightly in Fayette County during May, but the same could not be said for Peachtree City. Fayette rates dipped to 8.2 percent while Peachtree City’s jobless rate rose a bit to 7.4 percent.
The jobless situation in Fayette improved somewhat in May, with 8.2 percent of the labor force out of work compared to 8.3 percent in April and 7.7 percent a year ago, according to the Georgia Dept. of Labor. Fayette’s total labor force is estimated at 50,786, with 4,189 of those unemployed.
In Peachtree City, DOL figures showed a small rise in the unemployment rate for May, increasing from 7.2 percent in April to 7.4 percent last month. The May number represents 1,207 people without work in a workforce of 16,287.
Peachtree City’s unemployment rate in May 2009 was also 7.2 percent.
Unemployment in the Atlanta Regional Commission area in May mirrored that of Peachtree City. The May jobless rate in the ARC totaled 9.8 percent, compared to a 9.6 percent rate in April and a 9.0 percent rate in May 2009.
DOL estimates for the ARC showed 207,214 people out of work in a labor force of 2,119,439. And of the ARC counties, only Fayette, Gwinnett and Cobb counties had unemployment rates lower than 9.9 percent.
Across Georgia, unemployment rates fell slightly, from 10.3 percent in April to 10.2 percent in May. The May figures equate to 479,877 people unemployed in a workforce of 4.7 million. Georgia’s unemployment rate was 9.5 percent a year ago.
Nationally, the unemployment rate decreased in May. The 9.9 percent rate in April gave way to a 9.7 percent rate in May. That compares to a 9.4 percent jobless rate in May 2009. All totaled, the national rate represents 14.97 million people unemployed.
Unemployment figures do not reflect the people that are underemployed, taking part-time jobs in the absence of full-time employment, or those who have given up on finding a job and have stopped looking.
