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Jobless numbers still up in area; better than state's
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 Joblessness in the Hinesville area was up again in October, but still tracking better than the state’s.
The Georgia Department of Labor reported Friday that unemployment in metro Hinesville rose to 8.1 percent in October, up two-tenths of a percent from September. Meanwhile, the number of unemployed workers increased by 62, from 2,504 in September.
In October 2008, there were 2,125 jobless workers in Hinesville, when unemployment was 6.6 percent. The number of payroll jobs in metro Hinesville in October 2009 was 19,200, a loss of 300, or 1.5 percent, from 19,500 in October 2008.  
Statewide, the number of payroll jobs in October was 3,858,800, a decrease of 227,700 or 5.6 percent, from in October 2008. The over-the-year losses came in manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade, professional and business services, and construction, according to state Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond. Educational and health services added 13,200 jobs over the year. Also, from September to October, a total of 5,200 jobs were added in retail trade, public and private education, and health care. The state’s labor force decreased 139,015, or 2.9 percent, from 4,859,703 in October 2008 to 4,720,688 in October 2009.    
Meanwhile, the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose slightly to 10.2 percent in October, up one-tenth of a percentage point from a revised 10.1 percent in September.  
Georgia’s unemployment matched the national rate of 10.2 percent for the first time in two years. Since October of 2007, when a jobless rate of 4.8 percent was recorded by both the state and the nation, Georgia’s rate has exceeded the national rate.
In Coastal Georgia the unemployment rate rose to 8.6 percent in October, up one-tenth of one percentage point from September. The number of unemployed workers in the area increased by 320, from 26,765 in September to 27,085.
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