NE Ga.'s unemployment rate declines to 4.9% in November, Gainesville metro at 4.2%

ATLANTA – The Georgia Department of Labor announced Thursday morning the unemployment rate in the Northeast Georgia region in November was 4.9 percent, down four-tenths of a percentage point from 5.3 percent in October. The rate in November 2014 was 6 percent. 

At 4.9 percent, Northeast Georgia’s rate is at its lowest point since April 2008 when it also was 4.9 percent. 

The rate declined as the number of employed residents increased by 2,380 to 266,191 from 263,811 in October. 

At the same time, the number of initial claims for unemployment insurance rose by 203, or 14.1 percent, to 1,641 in November. Most of the increase came in administrative and support services, construction and manufacturing. Over the year, claims were up by 303, or 22.6 percent, from 1,338 in November 2014.     

Metro Gainesville had the lowest area jobless rate at 4.2 percent, while the Heart of Georgia-Altamaha region had the highest at 6.8 percent.     

Meanwhile, Georgia’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate for November was 5.6 percent, down from 5.7 percent in October. It was 6.7 percent in November 2014.