Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said Thursday that Dalton’s labor force grew in July.
According to preliminary numbers, Dalton also made monthly gains in employed residents and annual gains in jobs for the month of July, for the two-county metropolitan statistical area (MSA).
“July was another solid month for Georgia,” Commissioner Butler said. “The state numbers were strong and many of our local communities added to their labor force, which was badly needed. Many areas of the state also increased the number of employed residents. Georgia continues to head in the right direction.”
Nationally, the unemployment rate was unchanged in July at 3.7 percent. Georgia’s rate dropped 0.1 percentage points to settle at 3.6 percent. A year ago, Georgia’s unemployment rate sat at 3.8 percent.
Rates fell across 12 of Georgia’s 14 MSAs.
In Dalton, the unemployment rate increased in July, rising by 0.1 percentage points to settle at 4.6 percent. A year ago, the rate was 5.3 percent.
Dalton ended July with 69,100 jobs. That’s a decrease of about 200 over the month but an increase of about 1,000 when compared to July of last year.
The labor force increased in July by 88 to reach 61,499. That number is down by 525 from the total of July 2018.
Dalton ended July with 58,697 employed residents. The number increased by 25 in July but was down by 70 over July 2018’s total.
The numbers of unemployment claims went up in July by about 134 percent and were up by 17 percent from the same period last year.
The two-county MSA includes Whitfield and Murray counties.
Employ Georgia, the GDOL’s online job listing service at employgeorgia.comshowed 407 active job postings in metro Dalton for July.