Area’s jobless rate up to 5.3 percent

Numbers typical, although a little worse than normal Junes.

The metro Atlanta unemployment rate jumped from 4.5 percent in May to 5.3 percent in June, as seasonal layoffs and school graduations swelled the labor force with job-seekers, the government reported today.

The number of unemployed rose by 23,425, according to the Georgia Labor Department.

In most ways it was a typical June, only a little worse. In every one of the past 20 Junes, the Atlanta unemployment rate has gone up. Job growth is generally weak as summer starts. Since 2002, the metro Atlanta economy has added jobs in June just twice: in 2006 and 2015.

Roughly 5,200 jobs were lost during the month, weaker than the previous four years.

But in the past year, metro Atlanta has added 69,400 jobs.

“We are bullish on the Atlanta economy,” said Allison Dukes, president of the Atlanta division at SunTrust Bank, which loans money to growing companies and handles deposits for many start-ups.

“I see the economy continuing to grow at a nice healthy pace. I see balanced growth, which is what we want. It is not concentrated in one sector. It is not dependent on government.”

Leaders in metro Atlanta’s expansion are information technology, 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 1,200 -6,200 -15,100 -18,700

-9,000 -11,400 -2,500 -1,500 -1,600 4,300 -5,200 126,262 170,954 288,096 278,794 288,293 258,629 237,734 203,156 169,168 154,628 life sciences and the burgeoning film industry.

“All those industries have a trickle-down effect for the rest of the economy,” Dukes said.

The metro economy now has more people working and more jobs than before the recession began in late 2007. The number of unemployed has fallen dramatically since the worst of the recession, but has still not fallen to its pre-recession level.