Stephens Co. Unemployment Goes Up in July

Stephens County sees a jump in its unemployment rate in the month of July.

According to figures released last week from the state Labor Department, Stephens County had a preliminary July unemployment rate of 6.6 percent, up six-tenths of a percentage point from June’s 6 percent.

The July rate in Stephens County was three-tenths of a percentage point lower than the July 2015 rate of 6.9 percent.

Stephens County’s labor force in July of 10,985 was down a little from 11,001 in June, but up from the July 2015 labor force, which was 10,735.

Meanwhile, July figures show that there were 10,257 employed in Stephens County. That’s down from June’s 10,341, but up from last July’s figure of 9,999.

July figures in Stephens County did not mirror the Georgia Mountains region, which saw its unemployment rate go down one-tenth of a percent to 4.8 percent in July with a rising labor force and more people employed.

State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said the numbers for the Georgia Mountains region were very good as a whole in July.

“Even though we did see initial claims increase over the month, most of those were temporary in nature,” said Butler. “More encouragingly, we continue to see the labor force increase in the Georgia Mountains region. That signifies what you hear some call “discouraged workers” coming back into the labor force.”

Looking at other area counties, Habersham’s July unemployment rate went up two-tenths of a percentage point to 5.6 percent; Franklin County’s July unemployment rate went up half a percentage point to 6 percent; and Banks County’s July unemployment rate stayed the same as June at 5.2 percent.