Georgia's Unemployment Rate Unchanged - First Time Unemployment Claims in Walton Up

The Georgia Department of Labor gave the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for January 2013, announcing on Thursday that at 8.7 percent, it was unchanged from last month and down from 9.3 percent in January a year ago.

According to a press release from the Georgia Department of Labor, this reflected a loss of 47,700 jobs, mostly seasonal, and included an increase in initial claims for unemployment insurances benefits over the month. The increases, however, more not enough to alter the unemployment rate.

“The good news in this report is that we lost the fewest jobs for January since 1987,” state Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said in the release. “And, we start the year with 79,600 more jobs in January than we had in the same period a year ago.”

In Walton County, first time unemployment claims went up to by 229 or 83.6 percent to 503 in January 2013 from 274 in December 2012. It was down from last year by 7.7 percent or 42 from the 545 first time claims reported in January 2012.

The number of jobs in Georgia increased to 3,956,300 from 3,876,700 in January 2012 with most of the job growth over the year coming in professional and business services, 25,500; leisure and hospitality, 21,300; education and health care, 16,100; trade, transportation, and warehousing, 13,000, and manufacturing 5,800.

First-time claims for unemployment insurance benefits from layoffs during the month rose to 71,530, and increase of 20,669 from the 50,861 reported in December. According to the release, this increase is due mostly to seasonal layoffs in manufacturing, administrative and support services, construction, and retail trade. It was, however, down by 6,226, over the year, dropping from 77,756 in January 2012. Most of the decline came in manufacturing, retail trade, construction, accommodations and food services, and transportation and warehousing.

Other figures noted in the release included an increase in Georgia's labor force by 15,704 to 4,846,362 in January, 2013. This is its highest level since 2008 and reflects a 1.1 percent growth, or 54,127 jobs, since January 2012.

Long-term unemployed workers declined by 3,700 in January to 191,300, its lowest level in 35 months. Georgia workers who have been out of work for more than 26 weeks make up 45.2 percent of Georgia's unemployed.