Savannah jobless rate level year to year | savannahnow.com

Metro Savannah’s unemployment rate increased to 8.8 percent in June, up nine-tenths of a percentage point from 7.9 percent in May, the Georgia Department of Labor announced today.

The rate was also 8.8 percent in June a year ago.

The rate increased primarily because of two seasonal factors: large numbers of education workers are unemployed during the summer and new graduates are considered unemployed until they find a job.

Also, the number of layoffs, represented by initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits, rose by 70, or 3.9 percent, to 1,854 in June from 1,784 in May. The increases came mostly in administrative and support services, transportation and warehousing, educational services, and health care and social assistance.

While the jobless rate increased, the number of jobs in metro Savannah decreased by 100, or one-tenth of a percentage point, from 159,500 in May to 159,400 in June. Most of the job loss came in state government.

via Savannah jobless rate level year to year | savannahnow.com.