Local unemployment up

Polk County ended the year with an unemployment rate slightly higher than the revised numbers from the previous month according to data released by the Georgia Department of Labor.

The Jan. 26 release showed Polk County with a preliminary rate of 5.7 percent, or some 1,029 residents seeking unemployment insurance for the month. That’s up two-tenths of a percentage point from the revised November figure of 5.5 percent.

The unemployment rate is also down a tenth of a percentage point compared to figures reported for December 2015’s rate of 5.8 percent.

Across Northwest Georgia, the unemployment rate in the region in December was 5.2 percent, up two-tenths of a percentage point from 5 percent in November. In December 2015, the rate was also 5.2 percent.

The rate rose as the number of unemployed residents, labor force and number of new layoffs increased.

There were 847 more unemployed residents and the labor force grew by 2,127 to 409,468. The labor force consists of employed residents and those who are unemployed, but actively looking for jobs.

The number of initial claims for unemployment insurance, a measure of new layoffs, rose by 1,196, or 45.5 percent, to 3,823 in December. Most of the increase came in manufacturing and construction, along with trade, transportation and warehousing. Over the year, claims were down by 4,975, or 56.5 percent, from 8,798 in December 2015.

Metro Gainesville had the lowest area jobless rate at 4.2 percent, while the Heart of Georgia-Altamaha and River Valley regions had the highest at 6.6 percent.

Meanwhile, Georgia’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate for December was 5.4 percent, up from 5.3 percent in November. It was 5.5 percent in December 2015.