Turkey Day report: Columbus unemployment rate climbs in October
In a Turkey Day report, the Georgia Department of Labor said Thursday that the Columbus metro area unemployment rate rose from 4.9 percent in September to 5.1 percent in October.
The increase was due to 285 Columbus-area residents joining the ranks of the unemployed, the department said, with that total now at 6,331.
The current jobless rate in Columbus is still significantly lower than the 6.6 percent residents and businesses were facing in October a year ago.
More: Columbus jobless rate improving amid less-than-robust job creation
“Ideally, we’d rather not see the rate go up in any single month,” Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said in a Thanksgiving Day statement. “But it’s not alarming because the trend over the past year continues to look good. The numbers fluctuate from month to month.”
The Georgia metro area with the lowest unemployment rate in October is Gainesville at 3.6 percent, with the highest rate in Albany at 5.2 percent. The state’s rate, reported last week, is 4.3 percent.
The labor department reported that there now are 118,006 residents in the Columbus area employed and bringing home a paycheck, which is down by 462 from a month ago, but nearly 2,000 higher than a year ago.
The overall labor force, meanwhile, dipped by 177 individuals in October to 124,337 currently. The labor force is the combined number of people who have jobs and those unemployed but actively seeking work. The current figure is up by 110 from a year ago.
In the category of first-time unemployment claims, those rose by more than 36 percent to 711 month over month, with the bulk of them in manufacturing. Claims are up slightly from a year ago. First-time, or initial, claims represent those workers freshly laid off by employers.
In terms of overall jobs available in the Columbus metro area, there now are about 121,600, the department reported, which is up by 600 positions. Sectors gaining jobs were manufacturing, education, health care and local government.
The Columbus metro area includes Muscogee, Harris, Chattahoochee and Marion counties in Georgia, as well as Russell County in Alabama.
Georgia metro area rates
Here are the October 2017 unemployment rates for Georgia’s metro areas:
▪ Gainesville — 3.6 percent
▪ Athens — 4.1 percent
▪ Atlanta — 4.1 percent
▪ Savannah — 4.1 percent
▪ Valdosta — 4.3 percent
▪ Augusta — 4.6 percent
▪ Brunswick — 4.6 percent
▪ Hinesville — 4.7 percent
▪ Rome — 4.7 percent
▪ Dalton — 4.9 percent
▪ Macon — 5 percent
▪ Columbus — 5.1 percent
▪ Warner Robins — 5.1 percent
▪ Albany — 5.2 percent
This story was originally published November 23, 2017 at 10:44 AM with the headline "Turkey Day report: Columbus unemployment rate climbs in October."