ATLANTA — The Georgia Department of Labor announced Thursday that the preliminary unemployment rate in Effingham County was 6.7 percent for August, up slightly from 6.6 percent in June.
Unemployment in Effingham for August 2013 also was 6.6 percent.
The unemployment rate in the Coastal Georgia region in August was 8.3 percent, down two-tenths of a percentage point from 8.5 percent in July. The rate in August of last year was 8.2 percent.
The August rate decreased primarily because the number of initial claims for unemployment insurance, a measure of new layoffs, decreased by 25.6 percent in August.
There were 1,684 new claims for unemployment insurance filed in August, a decrease of 580 from 2,264 in July. Most of the decrease in claims came in manufacturing, transportation and warehousing, and administrative services. Over the year, claims were down 16.3 percent from the 2,011 claims filed in August 2013.
Metro Savannah’s unemployment rate for August was 7.8 percent, down one-tenth of a percentage point from 7.9 percent in July. The rate in August of last year was 7.6 percent.
The rate declined primarily because the number of jobs increased by 1,700. There were 165,300 jobs in Savannah in August, up 1.0 percent from July. The gains came in leisure and hospitality, trade, transportation, and warehousing, and state and local government.
There was an over-the-year gain of 3,900 jobs, or 2.4 percent, from August 2013. The job gains came mostly in professional and business services, leisure and hospitality, and trade, transportation and warehousing.
There were 1,078 new claims for unemployment insurance filed in August, an increase of seven, or 0.7 percent, from 1,071 in July. Most of the increase in claims came in retail trade and administrative services. Over the year, the number of claims fell 9.8 percent from the 1,195 claims filed in August 2013.
Metro Athens had the lowest area jobless rate at 6.4 percent, while Metro Dalton had the highest rate 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.
