Stephens Co. Unemployment Drops in November

Stephens County receives positive news on the unemployment front for the month of November.

According to statistics released last week by the Georgia Department of Labor, Stephens County had a preliminary November unemployment rate of 5.7 percent.

That is down two-tenths of a percentage point from October’s revised rate of 5.9 percent and also down one-tenth of a percentage point from the revised rate in November 2015, which was 5.8 percent.

Stephens County’s November labor force was 11,024, slightly higher than October’s 10,983 and the November 2015 labor force of 10,688.

Also, 10,400 people were employed in Stephens County in November, up from 10,331 in October and 10,072 in November 2015.

Meanwhile, the Georgia Mountains region had a preliminary November unemployment rate of 4.3 percent, down four-tenths of a percentage point from October and one-tenth of a percentage point down from November 2015.

Calling the figures good news, State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said the job picture is good in the Georgia Mountains region.

“The first thing that we saw is we are seeing initial claims for unemployment decrease by a little over five percent for the month of November,” said Butler. “We are also seeing individuals continue to be encouraged and come back in the labor force. These are individuals who had not been previously looking for work. The most important thing we are seeing in all these numbers is we saw over 1,300 individuals in the Georgia Mountains region actually gain employment and start that next career in the month of November.”

Looking around the region, Franklin County’s preliminary unemployment rate dropped four-tenths of a percentage point in November to 5.1 percent; Habersham County saw a seven-tenth of a percentage point drop in its preliminary unemployment rate, coming in at 4.9 percent in November; and Banks County’s preliminary unemployment rate for November went down half a percentage point to 4.3 percent.