Pierce County’s estimated unemployment rate ticked up a tenth of a percent to 3.4 percent in December.
The local unemployment rate has fluctuated over the last four months. The rate was down three tenths in November, up half a point in October, down 1.3 percent in September and up seven tenths of a point in August. The rate is also up — about a full point— compared to December of last year, when the jobless rate stood at 2.6 percent.
According to Department of Labor statistics, Pierce County has a labor force of 8,684 with 8,388 employed. The number of those listed as unemployed was 296.
Pierce’s rate was three tenths below the state average of 3.7 percent. The state rate was unchanged from November.
Both Pierce County and the state are lower than the nationwide unemployment rate. The national unemployment rate was 4.1 percent in December, down a tenth from November.
Georgia Department of Labor Emergency Interim Successor Louis DeBroux said most of Georgia saw declines in unemployment rates in December, but south Georgia was not one of them.
In the Southern Georgia region, the unemployment rate was up three tenths to 3.9 percent, compared to November. The rate declined the very same amount in October. The rate was at 3.1 percent in December of 2023.
Still, DeBroux points out Georgia’s unemployment numbers continue to be near record low levels for Pierce County and across the state.
“Georgia means business,” said GDOL Interim Successor Louis DeBroux. “With historic job growth nearing 5 million and unemployment rates outperforming the national average, Georgia is well on the way to making history. By expanding opportunities for all Georgians and attracting top-tier companies to every corner of the state, our story continues to be one of resilience and sustained economic success for the people and businesses that call the Peach State home.”
The county recorded an 8.4 percent unemployment rate in April 2020 at the peak of the shelter in place order caused by the COVID 19 virus and before businesses reopened in 2020. Georgia hit a peak of over 9 % in unemployment in April 2020 at the height of the pandemic.
In addition to Pierce, the 18-county South Georgia region includes Atkinson, Bacon, Ben Hill, Berrien, Brantley, Brooks, Charlton, Clinch, Coffee, Cook, Echols, Irwin, Lanier, Lowndes, Tift, Turner and Ware.
Georgia Labor Commissioner Bruce Thompson died Sunday, November 24, 2024, following a battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 59.
