Woodstock Sees Dip In Unemployment Rate

The city of Woodstock's unemployment rate fell to 6.8 percent in February, according to the Georgia Department of Labor.

The latest figure is an improvement from the revised rate of 7.3 in January and 8.8 percent unemployment rate last February.

As a whole, Cherokee County's unemployment rate also dropped in February to 5.7 percent. That's down slightly from the revised figure of 5.9 percent in January 2014, and also down from the 7 percent unemployment rate in February 2013.

Woodstock's rate is a hair lower than the metro Atlanta rate of 6.9 percent.  

The metro rate dipped from 7.1 percent in January primarily due to the area seeing 23 percent fewer new layoffs and a drop in initial unemployment claims.

The metro rate for February 2013 was 8.4 percent. 

While the number of new claims fell, the metro region lost about 1,900 seasonal jobs — mostly in leisure, hospitality and retail — in February. The total number of jobs fell from 2.41 million in January to 2.4 million last month.

Unemployment rate for other cities include: Kennesaw at 7.3 percent; Marietta at 7.1 percent; Roswell at 5.2 percent; Alpharetta at 5.4 percent; Milton at 5.5 percent; Johns Creek at 5.8 percent; and Smyrna at 6.8 percent.