Chip Harp, Valdosta Today Business Editor
VALDOSTA — Where’s the recovery? Valdosta residents are still shackled with high unemployment as the Georgia Department of Labor announces the rate at 8.4%, up from this time last year where it stood at 7.8%
Of course, this does not account for underemployment, where jobs are taken for less than the worker’s normal value, or part time work.
There were 54,200 jobs in Valdosta in August, up by 600, or 1.1 percent, from July. The monthly gains came mostly in state and local government and in the goods-producing sector, which includes manufacturing and construction. The number of jobs was unchanged from August 2013.
Also, there were 351 new claims for unemployment insurance filed in August, a decrease of 54, or 13.3 percent, from 405 in July. Most of the decrease in claims came in wholesale and retail trade, administrative and support services, and accommodations and food services. Over the year, the number of initial claims dropped by 17.4 percent from the 425 claims filed in August 2013.
Metro Athens had the lowest area jobless rate at 6.4 percent, while metro Dalton had the highest at 10.7 percent.
Meanwhile, Georgia’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate for August was 8.1 percent, up from a revised 7.7 percent in July. It was 8.2 percent in August 2013.
