Unemployment rises in September

White County’s unemployment rate rose slightly in September.

The county’s preliminary unemployment rate was 3.3% in September, up from 3% adjusted rate in August, according to recent figures from the Georgia Department of Labor. The rate had declined for four straight months since rising from 3.5% in March to 10.5% in April as business endured the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The county had 524 unemployed out of a civilian labor force of 16,096, in September. There were 1,761 people listed as unemployed in April.

The jobless rate also ticked up slightly for the 13-county Georgia Mountains Local Workforce Development Area, which includes White County. The region’s unemployment rate rose to a preliminary 4% rate in September, up from to 3.9% in August. The region had also experienced four months of decline in the jobless rate since it reached 10.6% in April.

The trend was similar statewide. Georgia’s unemployment rate reach 6.3% in September compared to 6% in August. It had been improving since rising to 12.2% in April.