ATLANTA — Metro Hinesville’s unemployment rate increased to 9.2 percent in October, the Georgia Department of Labor recently reported.
That number is up 0.5 percent from 8.7 percent in September. The rate was 8.8 percent in October a year ago.
Because of the federal government shutdown, no states were allowed to publish local labor-market data for September. During the interim, the rate for Hinesville fell from 9.3 percent in August to 8.7 percent for September.
The rate rose in October primarily for two reasons — increases in new layoffs and the number of unemployed residents. The number of new layoffs, represented by initial claims for unemployment-insurance benefits, increased to 335, up by 184, or 121.9 percent, from 151 in September. Claims were filed in several sectors, led by health care and social assistance, administrative and support services, and trade, transportation and warehousing. There were 264 claims in October 2012.
The number of unemployed people in Hinesville increased to 2,982, up by 157 from 2,825 in September. There were 2,953 unemployed in October 2012.
While the jobless rate was up, employers added 100 jobs in the service-related industries, bringing the October total to 19,600. However, over the year, 500 jobs were lost with the federal government, while 300 were added in the goods-producing sector, including manufacturing and construction. The number of jobs totaled 19,800 in October 2012.  
The labor force, which is the number of people employed plus those unemployed but actively looking for work, declined by 163 to 32,347 in October from 32,510 in September. The labor force was down by 1,073 from 33,420 in October 2012.
Georgia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for October was 8.1 percent, down from 8.3 percent in September. The rate was 8.8 percent in October a year ago. Metro Athens had the lowest area jobless rate at 5.8 percent, while the Heart of Georgia-Altamaha region had the highest at 10.9 percent.  
Local area unemployment data are not seasonally adjusted. Georgia labor-market data are available at www.dol.state.ga.us.