The Georgia Department of Labor announced today that Metro Dalton’s unemployment rate for July was 10.4 percent, up 1.1 percent from 9.3 percent in June. The rate in July of last year was 11.7 percent.
The July rate increased as initial claims jumped 111 percent, up by 857 to 1,629 from 772 in June. Most of the increase was due to temporary layoffs in manufacturing. There were 2,284 claims filed in July 2013, down 28.7 percent.
There were 63,800 jobs in Dalton in July, down by 300, or 0.5 percent, from June.
The losses came mostly in local government.
However, there was an over-the-year gain of 500 jobs, or 0.8 percent, from July 2013. The primary growth was in textile manufacturing, retail trade, transportation and warehousing, and local government.
Metro Athens had the lowest area jobless rate at 6.6 percent, while the Heart of Georgia-Altamaha region had the highest at 11.4 percent.
Meanwhile, Georgia’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate for July was 7.8 percent, up from 7.4 percent in June.
Local area unemployment data are not seasonally adjusted. Georgia labor market data are available at www.gdol.ga.gov