Metro Atlanta’s Unemployment Rate Rises to 7.6 Percent in June

The unemployment rate rose for the second straight month in metro Atlanta, rising four-tenths of a point in June, according to labor force estimates released by the Georgia Department of Labor.

The June jobless rate was 7.6 percent, up from 7.2 in May. The metro rate in April was 6.5. The rate in June 2013 was 8.6 percent.

In Smyrna, the unemployment rate increased a tenth of a percent to 7.2 in June. In June of 2013, Smyrna's unemployment rate was at 7.7 percent. 

Cobb County's unemployment rate had a similar 0.1 percent increase to 6.9 percent. The county's unemployment rate was at 7.8 percent this time last year.

Seasonal factors accounted for much of the increase — summer job loss by non-contract school workers, temporary layoffs in manufacturing and an increased job force with the addition of graduates and students entering the job market.

The number of jobs in metro Atlanta fell 4,000 month-to-month to 2,460,900 in June, the labor department said, but that was still a 2.4 percent increase since June 2013.

Additionally, there was a 13.4 percent increase in new claims for unemployment insurance from May to June.

Metro Athens had the lowest area jobless rate in Georgia at 6.3 percent, while the Heart of Georgia-Altamaha region had the highest rate at 10.4 percent.

Click here for more info on Georgia labor statistics.