ATLANTA (CBS ATLANTA) -
Unemployment has gone up in the metro Atlanta area for the month of June, but remains lower than it was a year ago.
Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said Thursday the preliminary jobless rate was 9.3 percent last month, which is up seven-tenths of a percentage point from May. The unemployment rate was 10.2 percent in June 2011.
Butler said 17,526 new job seekers entered the work force but were not able to find jobs. About 350 workers in retail trade, administrative and support services and other fields lost their positions this month.
The areas of the state with the lowest unemployment rate were metro Athens and metro Gainesville, tied at 7.5 percent. Metro Dalton has the highest rate at 12.3 percent, according to the Department of Labor.
Statewide, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was up to 9 percent in June, which is one-tenth of a percentage point more than in May. The is the first increase in Georgia unemployment in almost a year, Butler said.
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