Jobless rate down to 8.1% in Fayette, up in PTC

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The recession continues to wear on in Fayette County. The unemployment rate in Fayette County dropped slightly to 8.1 percent in May while the rate in Peachtree City rose to 7.2 percent.

The jobless rate in Fayette County edged down a tenth of a percent in May to 8.1 percent, or 4,078 people out of work in a countywide workforce of 50,097. The jobless rate was 8.2 percent in April and 8.3 percent in May 2010.

Unemployment in Peachtree City rose slightly in May to 7.2 percent. That figure compares to the 7 percent rate in April and the 7.3 percent rate in May 2010. Peachtree City had a May 2011 workforce of 5,989, with 1,144 of those out of work.

The 10-county Atlanta Regional Commission area saw unemployment rise in May to 9.7 percent compared to 9.5 percent in April. The May total translates to 205,580 people out of work in a workforce of 2.12 million.

Only nine of the 28 Atlanta Metropolitan Statistical Area counties have jobless rates at less than 9.7 percent. Those include Fayette, Coweta, Cobb, Cherokee, Gwinnett, Barrow, Forsyth, Hall and Dawson counties.

Georgia’s unemployment figures for May held steady at 9.8 percent. That compares to a 10 percent rate in May 2010. The current jobless rate equates to 460,172 people out of work in a workforce of 4.69 million.

And across the United States, the jobless rate in May remained at 8.7 percent, or 13.4 million people. That figure is down from the 9.3 percent rate in May 2010.

Unemployment, of course, is not the entire story when it comes to paying a mortgage and meeting other financial obligations. A measure not tracked by state and federal labor departments is an underemployment condition that arises when a person wants full-time work but can only find part-time employment. Gallup in mid-June tallied the national underemployment rate at 9.7 percent.