Cherokee's Jobless Rate Drops to 6.7 Percent

A smaller percentage of Cherokee County's labor force was jobless in September than August, and its 6.7 percent unemployment in September was one of lowest in counties reported by the Georgia Department of Labor today.

Cherokee's unemployment rate dropped three-tenths of a percentage point from August's revised rate of 7 percent.

Forsyth had the lowest county rate in the area at 6.4 percent, with Fulton much higher at 9.2 percent. Cobb fell in between at 7.7 percent, with Bartow at 8.8 percent

County           Labor Force   Rate

Fulton              457,162        9.2%

Cherokee        114,187       6.7%

Cobb                378,222       7.7%

Forsyth              92,392        6.4%

Bartow               49,572        8.8%

The metro Atlanta unemployment rate also declined to 8.4 percent in September from a revised 8.8 percent in August.

The metro Atlanta rate declined primarily because of 4,446 fewer layoffs in manufacturing, construction, trade, administrative and support services, and accommodations and food services, plus 31,606 more people were employed.

If you are looking for a job, you'll probably skip metro Dalton, which had the state's highest at 11.2 percent. That's 2.2 percent higher than Georgia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 9.0 percent in September.

While the state lost 400 jobs from August to September, it actually gained 61,800 jobs since the 3,877,600 in September of 2011, climbing to 3,939,400.
In metro Atlanta, the number of jobs decreased to 2,335,700 in September, down by 5,100 from August, but up by 31,400 from 2,304,300 in September 2011.