Evidence of the recession in Newnan and Coweta County continues to wear on, at least in terms of unemployment numbers. Coweta’s numbers crept up in May to 8.9 percent while Newnan fell slightly to 9.9 percent.
Unemployment numbers in Coweta edged a bit further north in May, settling in at 8.9 percent or 5,313 people out of work in a workforce that totals 59,713 people. The rate was 8.8 percent in April and 9.7 percent in May 2010.
The jobless rate in Newnan fell by two-tenths of a point in May to 9.9 percent, down from the 10.1 percent rate in April and 11.1 percent in May 2010. Newnan has a workforce of 13,407, with 1,333 people out of work in May.
The 10-county Three Rivers Commission area also saw a slight increase in unemployment in May. The 10.6 percent rate in April grew to 10.7 percent in May, representing 23,887 people out of work in a workforce that totals nearly a quarter-million people.
The jobless rate in Three Rivers stood at 11 percent in May 2010.
Only nine of the 28 Atlanta Metropolitan Statistical Area counties have jobless rates at less than 9.7 percent. Those include Coweta, Fayette, 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.
Fortunately for Newnan and Coweta the jobless numbers are only one aspect of the continuing recession downplayed by Washington and Wall Street. A much brighter side shows a higher degree of business activity than is being experienced in many other metro Atlanta counties. Examples of that activity include the upcoming groundbreaking of the Cancer Treatment Centers hospital at Ashley Park and the ongoing construction of the replacement Piedmont Newnan Hospital on Poplar Road.
