Unemployment up slightly

Unemployment

up slightly

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 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 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.