Metro Savannah’s unemployment rate increased to 7 percent in May, up eight-tenths of a percentage point from 6.2 percent in April, the state labor department announced Thursday. The rate was 7.5 percent in May of last year.
The Georgia Department of Labor said the spike was seasonal, attributing the increase to new graduates entering the labor force looking for full-time work, while other students searched for part-time summer jobs. The labor force rose by 865, up to 184,466 in May from 183,601 in April.
While the rate rose, the number of jobs increased by 400 to 165,400 in May from 165,000 in April. Most of the job increases came in leisure and hospitality.
Over the year, the number of jobs increased by 2,600, or 1.6 percent, from 162,800 in May 2013. The job gainers were in professional and business services and leisure and hospitality. Government
lost 700 jobs.
Also, there were 1,416 new claims for unemployment insurance filed in May, a 20 percent drop over the year. Most of the increase in claims came in transportation and warehousing and accommodations and food services.
Metro Athens had the lowest area jobless rate at 5.7 percent, while the Heart of Georgia-Altamaha region had the highest at 9.8 percent.
Meanwhile, Georgia’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate for May was 7.2 percent, up from 6.9 percent in April but down from 8.4 percent in May 2013
.
