Columbus metro area unemployment rate dips to 6.6 percent in March

The Columbus metropolitan area unemployment rate took a dip in March, slipping to 6.6 percent, down from 6.8 percent in February.

The latest figure, reported Thursday by the Georgia Department of Labor, compares to 6.8 percent in March a year ago. Columbus has the second-highest rate in the state behind Dalton’s 6.8 percent.

Among Georgia’s metro areas, Gainesville recorded the lowest March unemployment rate at 4.5 percent.

The Columbus-area jobless rate was impacted by the creation of 600 jobs from February to March, the department said, giving the local metro area a total of 121,700 positions. The job gains came in the sectors of leisure and hospitality, education and health services, information services, mining, logging and construction.

Year over year, the Columbus area’s job count is up by 300 jobs. The labor force stands at 124,910.

“When we took a look at the numbers behind the rate in March, we saw some very encouraging news,” said Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler of the Columbus area statistics. “One of the numbers we’re really looking at close here lately is our labor force number. Our labor force represents those individuals who are either currently working or looking for work. We have been seeing that number continue to increase. In the month of March, we saw over 500 individuals return to the labor force to look for work. Even better news is we saw almost 700 individuals who are in the labor force actually gain employment. When you see those numbers add up like that, that is very good news for your local area.”

Checking another key barometer, initial claims for unemployment assistance — also referred to as first-time claims because of people recently being laid off — came in at 795 individuals in March, which was up only six people, with manufacturing the major contributor to that. Year over year filings for jobless benefits are up by 63.

Again, Butler was very upbeat about the job picture for the local metro area.

“According to the U.S. DOL, we see that the local businesses in Columbus have added about 600 jobs in the month of March,” he said. “However, we also have our own job system here at the Department of Labor in Georgia where we can actually take a look at active job listings for the Columbus area and that gives a little bit different picture. We’re actually showing almost 2,700 available jobs in the Columbus area. So we need more of those individuals who are sitting on the sidelines to get back out there and look.”

Those job listings can be found at the Georgia Department of Labor’s online site, www.employgeorgia.com. The 2,694 job listings for Columbus are among nearly 79,000 positions listed there across the state.

The labor department last week reported that Georgia’s unemployment rate in March was 5.5 percent, which was up from 5.4 percent in February and lower than the 6.2 percent recorded in March 2015.

This story was originally published April 21, 2016 at 12:17 PM with the headline "Columbus metro area unemployment rate dips to 6.6 percent in March."