ATLANTA (CBS ATLANTA) -
Unemployment in the metro Atlanta area rose slightly for July, but it is still lower than it was a year ago.
The Georgia Department of Labor said Thursday the preliminary jobless rate was up one-tenth of a percentage point to 9.3 percent in July. The rate stood at 10.1 percent in July 2011.
Commissioner Mark Butler said the increase was due to 2,157 jobs lost in manufacturing, construction, educational services, and administrative and support services.
Athens, the metro area which has had the lowest, or tied for the lowest, unemployment in Georgia every month since December 2009, was the lowest again at 7.4 percent. Metro Dalton was the highest at 12.5 percent.
Across the state, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was also up to 9.3 percent in July, a three-tenths of a percentage point increase from June.
About 20,600 Georgia jobs were lost by seasonal workers in the local public schools. Some of those were offset with an increase of 5,600 jobs in private schools.
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