State Unemployment Drops in June

The Georgia Department of Labor says that the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in June dropped to 5.1 percent, down two-tenths of a percentage point from 5.3 percent in May.

The rate was 5.8 percent in June 2015.

State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said the state has not had unemployment this low in Georgia since December 2007.

Butler said that in June, Georgia employers created 11,400 jobs, hired more people and laid off fewer workers.

He said the labor force also continues to grow.

The number of employed residents in Georgia rose by 18,317 to 4,620,466, while the number of unemployed residents fell by 5,581 to 249,683, its lowest level since November 2007, near the beginning of the recession.

The labor force grew by 12,736 to 4,870,149 in June.

It has grown by 85,726 since the beginning of this year.