February Unemployment Numbers Released

Stephens County shows mixed results on the unemployment front in February.

According to figures released Thursday by the Georgia Department of Labor, Stephens County had a preliminary unemployment rate of 6.2 percent in February.

That is up three-tenths of a percentage point from the revised January rate of 5.9 percent.

However, this February’s unemployment rate in Stephens County is a full percentage point lower than the rate in February 2015, which was 7.2 percent.

While the unemployment rate is higher, the number of Stephens County people listed as employed also went up slightly in February, going to 10,066 after being at 10,054 in January.

This February’s number of employed is also higher than the February 2015 figure, which was 10,015.

The reason for the unemployment rate increase was a jump in the labor force from January to February, going from 10,689 in January to 10,728 in February.

This February’s labor force is still smaller than the February 2015 labor force, which was 10,795.

Stephens County’s numbers followed the trend of the Georgia Mountains region, which saw a three-tenth of a percentage point jump in the unemployment rate in February, going to 4.9 percent.

State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said that in this particular case, a rising unemployment rate is not necessarily bad news because of the other numbers.

According to Butler, some of those re-entering the labor force have found jobs, but others have not, which can increase the unemployment rate.

Looking at other area counties, Habersham County’s preliminary February unemployment rate went up three-tenths of a percentage point to 5.7 percent; Franklin County saw its rate go up two-tenths of a percentage point in February to 5.5 percent; and Banks County’s preliminary unemployment rate for February was 5.3 percent, an increase of four-tenths of a percentage point.