When it comes to unemployment rates, Fayette and Coweta counties saw a reversal of fortunes in May. Fayette’s rate increased seven-tenths of a point to 6.8 percent while Coweta jumped eight-tenths of a point to 7 percent.
Fayette’s jobless rate in April was 6.1 percent, but that number had climbed to 6.8 percent in May, according to the Ga. Dept. of Labor. Fayette has a workforce of 53,096, with 3,617 people out of work in May.
Fayette’s unemployment rate in May 2013 was 7.3 percent.
Unemployment numbers for Coweta in May showed a jobless rate of 7 percent, up from the 6.2 percent rate in April. Coweta has a workforce of 64,372 people, of which 4,537 were unemployed in May.
Coweta’s jobless rate was 7.4 percent a year ago.
The largest cities in both counties also saw a rise in unemployment in May.
Peachtree City’s 5.9 percent rate in April rose to 6.6 percent in May while Newnan’s rate of 7.3 percent in April hit 7.9 percent just a month later.
The two regional commission areas which include Coweta and Fayette also saw significant increases in the jobless rate in May.
The 10-county Three Rivers Commission area, which includes Coweta County, had an April jobless rate of 7.4 percent. The rate rose to 8 percent in May, representing 18,642 people out of work in a workforce of 231,746.
The 10-county Atlanta Regional Commission, which includes Fayette County, had a 7.3 percent unemployment rate in May. That compares to a 6.6 percent rate in April. The jobless situation in May translates into 159,191 people without work in a workforce of 2.183 million.
Georgia also saw a rise in unemployment in May. The 6.7 percent rate in April rose to 7.5 percent in May, or 359,040 people out of work in a workforce of nearly 4.8 million.
