Metro Savannah’s unemployment rate ended the year stalled at 6.7 percent, the state labor department announced Thursday.
Savannah’s non-seasonally adjusted rate was the same as November’s, though down from 8.1 percent last year.
The number of jobs in Bryan, Effingham and Chatham counties declined by 1,300 to 158,000 in December, coinciding with a sharp increase in new layoffs.
The number of new layoffs, represented by initial claims for unemployment insurance, increased to 1,820 from 1,157 in November, a 57 percent uptick. There were 1,436 claims in December 2012.
In Chatham County alone, 577 more people applied for unemployment benefits than in November for a total of 1,476.
The state labor department said job losses were mostly in education and health care, leisure and hospitality and professional and business services, while layoff claims included transportation and warehousing, accommodations and food service and construction.
Over the year, job numbers weren’t much better, with just 300 jobs added, a .2 percent increase from December 2012 to 2013.
The labor force, those employed and those seeking employment, also declined over the year, from 183,298 to 177,195, a 3.3 percent decrease.
In his yearly economic forecast, professor Michael Toma of Armstrong Atlantic State University said he expected Savannah’s employment to increase by roughly 1.5 to 2 percent over the year. This growth should further reduce the unemployment rate modestly.
Metro Athens had the lowest area jobless rate at 5.2 percent, while the Heart of Georgia-Altamaha region had the highest at 10.2 percent.
Georgia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for December was 7.4 percent, down from 8.7 percent a year ago.
THE LOCAL NUMBERS
Unemployment rate by county for December 2013:
Chatham 7.0 percent
Bryan 5.9 percent
Effingham 6.0 percent
Year-over-year stats for Savannah MSA (Bryan, Chatham and Effingham):
Unemployment rate
December 2013 December 2012
6.7 percent 8.1 percent
Total Jobs
December 2013 December 2012
158,800 158,500
Unemployment Insurance Initial Claims
December 2013 December 2012
1,820 1,436
Source: Georgia Department of Labor