Georgia labor commissioner touts local tech and healthcare fields | The Augusta Chronicle

Though Augusta’s unemployment rates are hovering near 9.3 percent, Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler pointed to the area’s tech and health care sectors as continual bright spots in the local economy.

“Even in the worst days of the recession, the medical community continued to hire,” said Butler, who was in Augusta on Wednesday to speak at a CSRA Society of Human Resources Management meeting. “And it was strong again this last month.”

Government-sector positions are continuing to constitute the bulk of workforce losses both statewide and locally, Butler said before his speech to about 80 professionals with the organization.

According to the state Department of Labor, Georgia’s unemployment rate climbed to 8.8 percent in July, from 8.5 percent the month before.

Metro Augusta saw its unemployment rate rise from 8.3 percent in May to 9.3 percent in June, and the area’s rate was about 9.5 percent in June 2012. Figures for July won’t be released until next week.

via Georgia labor commissioner touts local tech and healthcare fields | The Augusta Chronicle.