August Sees 1,400 More Jobs in Floyd as Unemployment Claims Dip

Floyd County’s workforce climbed to 47,700 people in August — tied for the fourth best over the past 13 months — thanks to 1,400 additional positions from a year earlier.

The job total also was up 200 spots from July of this year. Traditionally, the workforce total begins to climb in September, peaking in December thanks to the Christmas shopping season.

Another plus: First-time jobless claims dropped across Northwest Georgia in August compared to both July and to August of last year. The only county seeing an increase from August 2023 was Polk.

The penultimate look at Georgia’s workforce before the Nov. 5 election from the state’s Department of Labor shows:

♦ Floyd: 185 claims.

♦ Bartow: 188 claims.

♦ Gordon: 120 claims.

♦ Polk: 101 claims (vs. 77 a year earlier)

♦ Chattooga: 44 claims.

Who’s hiring: Even with more people working and fewer jobless claims, there’s plenty of options available based on local employment sites:

Rome Floyd Chamber♦ : 120 openings posted midweek, including higher education and government positions.

Cartersville-Bartow Chamber:♦ 78 spots, many with Georgia Highlands’ Bartow campus.

Also: The Rome chamber and Goodwill staged large job fairs earlier this month while Atrium Health Floyd has a recruitment drive set for 2 until 7 p.m. Sept. 26 at Rome Civic Center.♦

Across the state: August’s unemployment rate was 3.6%, up two-tenths from a revised 3.4% in July. The Labor Department reports:

♦ Jobs were up by 3,000 over the month and up by 72,200 over the year to 4,982,700, an all-time high.

♦ The labor force was up by 5,332 to 5,410,717, an all-time high.

♦ The number of employed was down by 1,631 to 5,218,105, the first decrease since November 2023, but was up by 65,901 over the past 12 months.

♦ The number of unemployed was up by 6,963 to 192,612, the highest level since July 2021, and was up by 20,454 over the past 12 months.