Coweta County’s unemployment rate continued to decrease in May, dropping to 9.8 percent, according to data provided by the Georgia Dept. of Labor. That figure is down from 10.1 percent in April and represents 5,805 people out of work in a workforce of 59,235.
The May jobless rate was perhaps significant because it marks the first time since well into the recession that the current month’s unemployment numbers were the same or lower than those from one year earlier.
The jobless rate in Newnan also dipped in May compared to April’s figures. April’s 11.5 percent unemployment rate gave way to a rate of 11.2 in May, representing 1,497 people out of work in a job force of 13,326. Newnan’s unemployment rate in May 2009 was 11.3 percent.
The job situation in the 10-county Three Rivers area held steady again in May at 11.1 percent. Three Rivers has a workforce of 220,952, with 24,607 of those without jobs.
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.
And in Fayette County the unemployment landscape 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.
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.
