Unemployment numbers continue decline
As federal jobless aid continued to run out, Pike County’s unemployment rate fell in May to 9.2% from 9.5% in April.
In May the work force numbered 7,906 people with 7,125 working and 719 looking for jobs. In April, the numbers were 7,887 total people, 7,137 working and 750 seeking jobs. Unemployment was 9.8% in May 2009, when the job market numbered 8,098 people, 7,307 had jobs and 791 were hunting work.
Initial unemployment claims for Pike in May were 86, compared to 117 in April and 213 in May 2009. At 31 fewer people, the monthly change was 26.5% while the annual change of 127 fewer people was 59.6%.
The preliminary unadjusted unemployment rate in the Three Rivers area was unchanged at 11.1% from April to May. Meanwhile, the number of unemployed workers in the area increased to 24,607, up 144 from 24,463 in April. The work force in the 10-county area totals 220,952 people with 196,345 working.
“We won’t see a significant improvement in Georgia’s job market until small businesses begin hiring which will lay a solid foundation for a sustainable economic recovery,” labor commissioner Michael Thurmond said.
The state showed a modest increase in new jobs in May for the fourth consecutive month. The number of jobs increased 24,700, or seven-tenths of a percent, from 3,818,700 in April to 3,843,400. However, the number of jobs remains less than in May 2009, when there were 3,911,400 payroll jobs, 1.7%, or 68,000 more than this year.
For more, read the Wednesday, July 14 print/eEdition of The Pike County Journal-Reporter.
Initial unemployment claims for Pike in May were 86, compared to 117 in April and 213 in May 2009. At 31 fewer people, the monthly change was 26.5% while the annual change of 127 fewer people was 59.6%.
The preliminary unadjusted unemployment rate in the Three Rivers area was unchanged at 11.1% from April to May. Meanwhile, the number of unemployed workers in the area increased to 24,607, up 144 from 24,463 in April. The work force in the 10-county area totals 220,952 people with 196,345 working.
“We won’t see a significant improvement in Georgia’s job market until small businesses begin hiring which will lay a solid foundation for a sustainable economic recovery,” labor commissioner Michael Thurmond said.
The state showed a modest increase in new jobs in May for the fourth consecutive month. The number of jobs increased 24,700, or seven-tenths of a percent, from 3,818,700 in April to 3,843,400. However, the number of jobs remains less than in May 2009, when there were 3,911,400 payroll jobs, 1.7%, or 68,000 more than this year.
For more, read the Wednesday, July 14 print/eEdition of The Pike County Journal-Reporter.
Now that unemployment has been extended, we'll see what it looks like next month.
Unemployment in GA went up .5% back to 10.2%. That was on the news this morning.
"The preliminary unadjusted unemployment rate in the Three Rivers area was unchanged at 11.1% from April to May. Meanwhile, the number of unemployed workers in the area increased to 24,607, up 144 from 24,463 in April. The work force in the 10-county area totals 220,952 people with 196,345 working."
That looks like an increase in unemployment to me, not a decrease.
J.M. Are you writing these articles for BO?
David, you are absolutely right. Unemployment benefits have run out and some people have given up looking. Somehow, that fact is always missing when BO crows about reducing unemployment numbers.