Metro Rome ends 2017 with modest job growth

ATLANTA – State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said today that metro Rome ended 2017 with modest job growth, an increase in employment and work force, and a decline in unemployment.

The Floyd County metropolitan statistical area ( MSA) ended the year with 200 new jobs, 586 more employed residents, and 143 more people in the workforce. The unemployment rate fell by 1 percent. Rome ranked 13th in Georgia for job creation among 14 MSAs tracked by the Georgia Department of Labor.

“This is a very good year for the Rome area,” Butler said. “All of the major indicators trended in the right direction. I’m hopeful the same will continue in 2018.”

While metro Rome lost 100 jobs in December, the area ended the year with 41,500, a growth of 200 from Jan. 1, 2017. Most of the yearly job growth came in the goodsproducing sector, which includes manufacturing and construction.

While the number of employed residents declined by nine in December, the Rome metro area posted 41,931employed residents at year’s end, up by 586 over the year.

Metro Rome’s labor force, the number of residents with jobs and those unemployed but actively looking for work, declined by 35 in December. Rome ended the year with a labor force of 43,954, an increase of 143 last year.

In December, 356 initial claims for unemployment insurance were filed, down by 8 percent from the previous month. As compared to last December, initial claims were down by 21 percent from 453. Most of the yearly decrease in claims came in manufacturing.

Meanwhile, the metro area’s unemployment rate fell from 5.6 percent to 4.6 over the 12- month cycle. The December rate, at 4.6 percent, was down from the previous month by .1 percent.

Employ Georgia, the GDOL’s online job listing service at employgeorgia.com showed 434 new active job postings in metro Rome at year’s end.

Gordon County’s unemployment rate remained steady at 4.4 percent in December, matching the November rate, and seeing almost a point knocked off of the December 2016 unemployment rate of 5.3 percent. Out of a workforce of 26,590, 1,162 are unemployed and filing claims as of Dec. 31, 2017.

Visit dol. georgia. gov to learn more about career opportunities, Employ Georgia and other GDOL services for job seekers and employers and to connect with us on social media.