No Change in Cherokee's Unemployment Rate

Cherokee County's preliminary unemployment rate remained the same during the month of October, according to the Georgia Department of Labor.

The county's rate last month clocked in at 6.6 percent, which is the same rate the county had in September. October's figure is also a considerable drop from the October 2011 rate of 7.9 percent.

The lowest rate in the region belonged to Forsyth County, which had an October unemployment rate of 6.4 percent. Fayette County ranked third with its 7.1 percent unemployment rate for last month. 

Cherokee's labor force in October was 114,622, up slightly from 114,093 in September and 112,793 in October 2011. 

The metro Atlanta unemployment rate was 8.2 percent, down slightly from 8.3 in September and 9.4 percent in October 2011. In the metro region, the decline was due to an increase of 19,500 new jobs in metro Atlanta.

The department reports there were 2,353,500 jobs in October, a slight increase from 2,334,000 jobs in September.

The growth in new jobs last month came in retail trade at 5,900; professional, scientific, and technical services at 2,800; education and health care at 2,600; accommodations and food services at 2,200; local government at 2,200; technology at 1,400; construction at 1,200; and financial services at 800. 

Across the state, the unemployment rate for this month was 8.7 percent, a slight dip from 9.0 percent in September. The jobless rate was 9.7 percent in October a year ago.

Other county-wide unemployment rate include: Bartow at 8.5 percent; Clayton at 10.5 percent; Cobb at 8.8 percent; Douglas at 8.6 percent; Fulton at 9 percent; Gwinnett at 7.3 percent; Henry at 8.5 percent; Paulding at 8 percent; and Rockdale at 9.4 percent. 

Click here to see more detailed figures for Cherokee, the Atlanta region and other areas around the state. See the attached map for unemployment rates in each Georgia county.