October Unemployment Rate Drops in Stephens Co.

Stephens County gets good news on the unemployment front.

Statistics released last week by the Georgia Department of Labor show that Stephens County’s preliminary unemployment rate dropped to 5.8 percent in October.

That is two-tenths of a percentage point lower than September’s revised rate of 6.0 percent and one-tenth of a percentage point lower than the October 2015 revised rate of 5.9 percent.

Also, Stephens County’s labor force in October was 10,965. That is up from 10,923 in September and 10,634 in October 2015.

As for the number of employed in Stephens County, that number was at 10,332 in October. That is also up from 10,271 in September and 10,009 in October 2015.

State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said the whole Georgia Mountains Region saw similar employment trends in October to Stephens County.

“We did see a tremendous increase in individuals returning back to the workforce, individuals that are starting to look for work for the first time and the biggest number we saw had to do with people actually gaining employment,” said Butler. “We saw over 1,700 people in the Georgia Mountains region gain employment in the month of October, which gives us a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving season.”

The Georgia Mountains region had a preliminary unemployment rate for October of 4.5 percent, down one-tenth of a percentage point from September and three-tenths of a percentage point from October 2015.

Looking at other area counties, Franklin County’s unemployment rate stayed the same at 5.3 percent in October; Habersham County saw its unemployment rate rise three-tenths of a point in October to 5.5 percent; and Banks County saw its October unemployment rate go down one-tenth of a percentage point to 4.7 percent.