March Unemployment Figures Released for Stephens Co.

Preliminary March figures from the Georgia Department of Labor show good news for Stephens County.

Figures released last week indicate Stephens County saw its unemployment rate drop in March to 5.8 percent.

That is down four-tenths of a percentage point from February, when the unemployment rate was 6.2 percent, and it is also down 1.1 percentage points from March 2015, when the unemployment rate in Stephens County was 6.9 percent.

March’s labor force in Stephens County was 10,779. That is up from February’s labor force of 10,681 and it is right at the labor force figure for March 2015 of 10,780.

Stephens County had 10,156 people employed in March. That is up from February, when 10,021 were employed, and from March 2015, when 10,037 people were employed.

The March trends in Stephens County mirror the greater Georgia Mountains region, which saw its unemployment drop one-tenth of a percentage point in March to 4.7 percent.

State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said that the underlying numbers paint a good picture on the regional unemployment front.

“We continue to see individuals return to the workforce,” said Butler. “That means individuals who may not have been looking for work are now starting to look for work, which is good news for your area. In fact, we saw almost 2,900 individuals return to the workforce and go out there and look for employment. Even better news is during the month of March, we saw over 3,200 individuals actually gain employment in the Georgia Mountains region, which is great news.”

Looking at other area counties, Franklin County saw its March unemployment rate drop two-tenths of a percentage point to 5.3 percent; Habersham County’s March unemployment rate dropped four-tenths of a percentage point to 5.3 percent; and in Banks County, the unemployment rate in March dropped two-tenths of a percentage point to 5 percent.