Jobless rate rises with retail slowdown
Rome posted an unemployment rate of 3.6% in January compared to 2.8% in December. A year ago, the rate was 3.6%.
Those increases were trending the same for the rest of Northwest Georgia. In our five counties, the jobless rate ranged from 3.6% to 4.5%
A traditional drop at the end of the Christmas shopping season was the main culprit, according to Georgia’s Department of Labor. “Despite a nationwide pandemic and challenging economic times, continued investments in Georgia’s labor force and thriving business community have kept our economy strong,” said Labor Commissioner Bruce Thompson.
The January reports most likely don’t include some of the reactions from the February closing of Glidan Yarn
in Cedartown, with 107 jobs lost, and the upcoming shut down of the Party City stores in Rome and Cartersville.
A county-by-county look shows:
♦ Floyd: 3.6%
♦ Bartow: 3.7%
♦ Gordon: 3.6%
♦ Polk: 3.8%
♦ Chattooga: 4.5% A check of area employment sites Thursday morning showed 104 openings on the Rome-floyd Chamber page dominated by educational
centers and 25 openings shared by the Cartersville Bartow Chamber.
A closer look at the latest Rome report shows:
♦ The labor force increased by 317 and ended the month with 45,034. That number rose by 1,605 when compared to January 2022.
♦ Rome finished the month with 43,407 employed residents, up 52 from December and by 1,534 from a year ago.
♦ Rome ended January with 43,800 jobs, down 500 from December but up 2,800 when compared to the same month last year.
♦ The number of unemployment claims went up by 68% in January. When compared to the same month in 2022, claims surged by 183%.
For Northwest Georgia — with 15 counties including Floyd, Bartow, Gordon, Polk and Chattooga — the January numbers show:
♦ The unemployment rate was up seven-tenths to 3.6% vs. 3.4% a year earlier.
♦ The labor force was up by 2,006 from December and up 5,255 from January 2022. The total, 432,744, is a record high.
♦ The number of residents employed was down by 1,017 from December but up by 4,161 from January 2022 to 417,152.
♦ Initial jobless claims were up by 2,290 (31%) from December and up by 6,190 (183%) from 12 months earlier.