Unemployment Labor force Employment Number Rate
February 2015
Newton 48,053 44,628 3,425 7.1
Rockdale 42,302 39,341 2,961 7
January 2015
Newton 47,975 44,481 3,494 7.3
Rockdale 42,176 39,180 2,996 7.1
December 2014
Newton 48,195 44,713 3,482 7.2
Rockdale 42,354 39,414 2,940 6.9
January 2014
Newton 47,744 43,569 4,175 8.7
Rockdale 41,923 38,464 3,459 8.3
February 2014
Newton 47,886 43,670 4,216 8.8
Rockdale 42,070 38,569 3,501 8.3
As metro Atlanta unemployment dropped, so has Newton County’s.
The Georgia Department of Labor announced Thursday that February’s unemployment rate for Newton County was 7.1 percent. That is down slightly from January’s rate of 7.3.
By the numbers, 3,425 Newton residents were unemployed of the 48,053-member labor force. Those numbers are significantly better than a year ago, when 8.8 percent of Newton residents were unemployed in February 2014.
There was 7.2 percent unemployment for Newton County in December 2014.
Rockdale County’s unemployment rate is also down slightly, dipping to 7 percent in February from 7.1 percent in January 2015. Of the 42,302-person labor force, 2,961 were reported unemployed by GDOL.
State labor officials say metro Atlanta's unemployment rate has dropped to 6.1 percent as employers created more jobs and laid off fewer workers.
The Georgia Department of Labor on Thursday announced the new rate for February, which is down from 6.2 percent in January.
February's jobless rate is also down from 7.1 percent from February 2014.
Metro Gainesville had Georgia's lowest area jobless rate for February at 5.1 percent.
The Heart of Georgia-Altamaha region had the highest at 8.1 percent.
The local area unemployment rates are not seasonally adjusted.
Statewide, Georgia's seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate for February was 6.3 percent.
