Oconee Continues to Post Lowest Unemployment In State

At 6.6 percent, Oconee County's June unemployment rate is well below state and national averages. Oconee has posted the lowest jobless rate in Georgia  every month in 2011, according to data released by the Georgia Department of Labor.

Though the lowest in the state, Oconee's jobless rate rose eight-tenths of a percentage point from a revised 5.8 percent in May. Out of the county's labor force of 18,523, 1,224 were jobless in June.

The Georgia county with the highest unemployment rate last month was Hancock at 22.4 percent.

Unemployment Rates Continue to Rise

Georgia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate, which is up one-tenth of a percentage point to 9.9 from a revised 9.8 percent in May, has now exceeded the national unemployment rate for 47 months straight. The was 9.2 percent in June, an increase of one-tenth of a percentage point from 9.1. percent in May.

“The increase was caused primarily by two seasonal factors,” State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said in a news release. “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.”

The northeast Georgia area jobless rate increased to 10.2 percent in June, up 1 percent from a revised 9.2 percent in May. This is also up from June last year when the unemployment rate in northeast Georgia was 9.8 percent.

As for some of Oconee's neighboring counties, the preliminary unadjusted unemployment rate for Clarke in June was 8.8 percent,  up 1.4 percent from May's revised rate.  Barrow posted 10.3 percent, a change from a revised 9.4 percent the previous month.  In , the rate was 10.2 percent, up from 9.8 percent in May.

Area Job Fairs

To help area residents seeking employment, the Georgia Department of Labor Center in Walton County will have its annual career expo in Loganville next week. It will be from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Aug. 4 at Corinth Christian Church on Highway 81.

Parker Security will be interviewing for part-time security guards for the University of Georgia at the Athens Career Center on Aug. 1-2 from 9 a.m. to noon.

Also see Oconee Patch's column for area employment opportunities.