Dalton jobless rate rises to 12.3 percent

Thursday, August 22, 2013

Unemployment in the Dalton area rose 0.7 percent in July to 12.3 percent - the highest of any of Georgia's 14 metro areas.

The Georgia Department of Labor announced today layoffs increased and total employment in Whitfield and Murray counties in Northwest Georgia fell by 600 jobs during July. Most were temporary layoffs in manufacturing.

Despite recent hiring by most of Dalton's biggest carpet manufacturers, the July unemployment rate was pushed higher by both seasonal and short-term staff cutbacks and a rise in the number of people in he workforce.

The labor force, which is the number of people employed plus those unemployed but actively looking for work, rose by 269 to 59,783 from 59,514 in June. There were 59,989 in the labor force in July 2012.