ATLANTA — Metro Hinesville’s unemployment rate for December was 7.6 percent, up 0.1 from 7.5 percent in November, the Georgia Department of Labor announced Thursday.
The rate rose as the number of jobs in metro Hinesville declined to 20,000, down by 100 to 20,100 in November. Most of the monthly job loss came in the goods-producing sector, which includes manufacturing and construction. The number of jobs was unchanged at 20,000 from December 2013. The rate in December 2013 was 8.1 percent.
Also, there were 235 new claims for unemployment insurance filed in December, an increase of 61, or 35.1 percent, from 174 in November. Most of the increase in claims was because of seasonal temporary layoffs in manufacturing and construction, transportation and warehousing, health care and social assistance, and accommodations and food services. Over the year, claims were up by 32, or 15.8 percent, from 203 filed in December 2013.     
Meanwhile, Georgia’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate for December was 6.9 percent, down from 7.2 percent in November. It was 7.4 percent in December 2013.
Metro Athens had the lowest area jobless rate at 4.9 percent, while the Heart of Georgia-Altamaha region had the highest at 8.8 percent.
Georgia has been in the top 10 states for job creation every month since October 2012. That trend continued in December as the state added 108,200 new jobs, for a 2.7 percent growth rate since December 2013. That pushed the state’s job total to 4,196,400, the highest level since 4,202,100 in December 2007.
Local area unemployment data are not seasonally adjusted. Georgia labor market data are available at www.gdol.ga.gov. Connect with the GDoL on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter @GeorgiaDOL.