3,300 More Working in Cobb

Cobb County’s economy is looking up as the unemployment rate keeps falling.

The county 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. The local numbers are not adjusted for seasonal factors.

The percentages reflect actual job growth in Cobb. According to the Labor Department figures, 3,300 more people were working in the county in November than in October, and the county added about 7,400 jobs in the past year.

Cobb County’s good 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.

Cobb’s rate remains lower than the state rate—a seasonally adjusted 9.9 percent in November, down from 10.2 percent in October and 10.4 percent in November 2010—and dropped below the seasonally adjusted national rate of 8.6 percent in November. The national rate was lower than Cobb’s in October (9 percent) but higher in November 2010 (9.8 percent).

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.