The Georgia Department of Labor announced today that Metro Albany’s unemployment rate for May was 7.3 percent, up five-tenths of a percentage point from 6.8 percent in April. The rate in May 2014 was 8.5 percent.

The rate rose as the number of jobs in Albany decreased by 500, or 0.8 percent, in May to 61,000. Most of the job losses came in state government, which is primarily among non-contract school workers, and wholesale trade and transportation. 

And, there was an over-the-year loss of 700 jobs, or 1.1 percent, from May 2014. Most of the job losses came in local and state government, primarily non-contract education employees, as well as in retail trade, and the goods-producing sector, which includes manufacturing and construction. 

As the number of jobs declined, the labor force increased to 65,257, up 13 from April. Last year, the labor force declined by 1,979 in May.    

The number of initial claims for unemployment insurance declined by 54, or 9.0 percent, to 547 in May. Most of the decrease came in manufacturing and construction. Over the year, claims were down by 199, or 26.7 percent, from 746 filed in May 2014.     

Metro Gainesville had the lowest area jobless rate at 5.1 percent, while the Heart of Georgia-Altamaha region had the highest at 7.7 percent. 

Meanwhile, Georgia’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate for May was 6.3 percent, up from a revised 6.2 percent in April. It was 7.3 percent in May 2014.