Regional Unemployment Rates Drop in December
For the Georgia Mountains Region, which includes Stephen, Franklin, and Hart counties, the December 2024 unemployment rate was down three-tenths of a percent to 2.6 percent over the month, slightly up from the 2.4 percent rate in December 2023.
According to the latest Department of Labor figures specifically for Stephens County, as of November 2024, the unemployment rate in Stephens County was 4.1% – The unemployment rate in Stephens County was 3.1% in 2023.In January 2010, the unemployment rate in Stephens County reached a record high of 13.3% and in April 2022, the unemployment rate in Stephens County reached a record low of 2.7%. The long-term average unemployment rate in Stephens County is 6.22%
The latest GDOL unemployment rate for Franklin County is from November when the rate was 3.6%. As of September 2024, the labor force in Franklin County totaled 10,408. Of that, 10,065 were employed and 343 were collecting unemployment benefits. In Habersham County, the November 2024 unemployment rate was 3.2%
Statewide, unemployment claims declined across most of Georgia’s Regional Commissions in December.
Department of Labor Interim State Labor Commissioner Louis DeBroux said Thursday that, with historic job growth nearing 5 million and unemployment rates outperforming the national average, Georgia is well on the way to making history.
In other figures from the Department of Labor, the December 2024 labor force was down 2,663 over the month but up 4,091 over the year, to 254,332.
The number of employed also dropped in December by just over 2,000 but has risen over the year to 247,601.
Initial claims for unemployment were up by 336 in December but down overall over the past twelve months.