Three Rivers jobless rate rises

The Georgia Department of Labor announced this week that the unemployment rate in the Three Rivers region in June was 6.7 percent, up three-tenths of a percentage point from 6.4 percent in May. The rate in June 2014 was 8.3 percent.

The rate rose as the number of initial claims for unemployment insurance increased by 628, or 46.4 percent, to 1,981 in June. Most of the increase came in health care and social assistance, manufacturing, administrative and support services, construction and retail trade. Over the year, claims were down by 1,097, or 35.6 percent, from 3,078 filed in June 2014.

Metro Gainesville had the lowest area jobless rate at 5.3 percent, while the Heart of Georgia-Altamaha region had the highest at 8.2 percent.

Meanwhile, Georgia’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate for June was 6.1 percent, down from 6.3 percent in May. It was 7.3 percent in June 2014.

Local area unemployment data are not seasonally adjusted. Georgia labor market data are available at www.gdol.ga.gov.