Unemployment rate jumps

Unemployment

rate jumps

State Labor

Commissioner Michael Thurmond said last week that the unemployment rate

in the metropolitan Atlanta area rose three-tenths percent in February.

The rate rose to 3 percent, up from 2.7 percent in January, but down from

3.1 percent in February of 2000.

Metro Atlanta's

unemployment rate rose in February because some workers in manufacturing

and service-related industries were temporarily laid off. But, the latest

12-month report shows an increase of 43,800 jobs since February of 2000,

mostly in trade and services.

Georgia's unemployment

rate rose in February, for the second consecutive month, to 3.4 percent,

despite the fact that the number of jobs continued to grow at a modest

rate. The February rate was up from 3.3 percent in January and 3.0 percent

in December. A year ago, the state's jobless rate stood at 3.8 percent.

"Although

job growth has slowed to an annual rate of 2.1 percent, we're still adding

new jobs in retail trade and service-related industries," Thurmond

said.

"Employers

still have hundreds of available jobs listed with the Georgia Department

of Labor, and our staff is actively engaged in matching those jobs with

job seekers. Help is available for them through our 53 career centers

located throughout the state."

In February,

Georgia added 17,400 new jobs, and the latest 12-month report shows that

82,500 jobs have been added since February of 2000, mostly in retail trade

and services. That total represents a 2.1 percent annualized growth rate,

down from 3.8 percent at that same time the previous year.

The labor department

reported a total of 4,014,000 jobs in the state last month, up from 3,996,600

in January. A total of 3,931,500 jobs were reported in February of 2000.

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