Job Picture Brightens in the Springs

More people are working on both sides of the county line between Powder Springs and Lithia Springs.

Cobb County’s jobless rate dropped 0.7 percentage point in November to 8.4 percent, according to preliminary figures the Georgia Department of Labor released Thursday.

The rate improved from , and 9.7 percent in November 2010.

In Douglas County, the unemployment rate fell to 10.2 percent in November from 10.8 percent a month earlier and 11.3 percent a year earlier. The countywide rate was 11 percent in September.

The local numbers are not adjusted for seasonal factors.

Are you more optimistic about the economy as employment grows?

The percentages reflect actual job growth in both counties. According to the Labor Department figures, 3,300 more people were working in Cobb County in November than in October, and the county added about 7,400 jobs in the past year. More than 560 additional Douglas County residents had jobs at the end of November than were working in October, and total employment was up 1,265 from a year earlier.

The good county job news matched the improvement for the official metro Atlanta area, where the November rate was 9.2 percent, down from 9.9 percent in October and 10.2 percent in September and 10.3 percent in November 2010. That area covers Barrow, Bartow, Butts, Carroll, Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, Coweta, Dawson, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Haralson, Heard, Henry, Jasper, Lamar, Meriwether, Newton, Paulding, Pickens, Pike, Rockdale, Spalding and Walton counties.

In the smaller area covered by the Atlanta Regional Commission—Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry and Rockdale counties—the jobless pattern was the same: 9.1 percent in November, down from 9.8 percent a month earlier and 10.2 percent a year ago.

The state rate was a seasonally adjusted 9.9 percent in November, down from 10.2 percent in October and 10.4 percent in November 2010. The seasonally adjusted national rate was 8.6 percent in November, compared with 9 percent in October and 9.8 percent in November 2010.

The Atlanta metro area added 13,300 jobs in November, the Labor Department said. Most of those jobs were in private service-related industries, including professional and business services, trade, transportation, warehousing, education, health care and financial services.