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Jobless rate inches higher for June 2011
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ATLANTA – State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said Thursday that the preliminary unadjusted unemployment rate in metro Savannah increased to 9.5 percent in June, up 1.0 percent from a revised 8.5 percent in May. The jobless rate in metro Savannah in June a year ago was 8.8 percent.

“The increase was caused primarily by two seasonal factors,” said Butler. “There were layoffs among non-contract public school employees, such as bus drivers and janitorial workers, and an increase in the labor force, as students began looking for permanent or part-time jobs.”

Unemployment in Effingham County for June was at 8.5 percent. It is up from a revised May figure of 8.1 percent and from June 2010’s 8.3 percent.

The preliminary unadjusted unemployment rate in the Coastal Georgia area increased to 10 percent in June, up 1.1 percent from a revised 8.9 percent in May. The jobless rate in the Coastal Georgia area in June a year ago was 9.4 percent.

The lowest area rate, at 8.0 percent, was recorded in Warner Robins, while the highest, at 12.8 percent, was in the Heart of Georgia-Altamaha area near Dublin.

Georgia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 9.9 percent in June, up one-tenth of a percentage point from a revised 9.8 percent in May. The state’s jobless rate was 10 percent in June a year ago.

June marked the 47th consecutive month Georgia has exceeded the national unemployment rate, which is currently 9.2 percent, up from 9.1 percent in May.