Staff Report Pierce County’s estimated unemployment rate ticked up two tenths of a percent in February to 3.9 percent. It is the second straight month the rate has risen and it is now up half a point for the year.
According to Department of Labor statistics, Pierce County has a labor force of 8,191 with 7,871 employed. The number of those listed as unemployed was 320, up 12 from January.
The rate increased three tenths compared to February, 2024, when the jobless rate stood at 3.6 percent.
Pierce’s rate was slightly above the state average of 3.7 percent. The state rate was up a tenth from January.
Both Pierce County and the state are lower than the nationwide unemployment rate. The national unemployment rate was 4.1 percent in February, up a tenth from January.
Georgia Department of Labor Emergency Interim Successor Louis DeBroux. said most of Georgia saw an increase in February unemployment rates. He did not express any concerns over the increase in the jobless rate.
“Jobs are growing, and so is Georgia’s future,' said GDOL Interim Successor Louis DeBroux. 'With regional job growth across Georgia in February and the state's unemployment rate holding steady at 3.6%—well below the national average—Georgia continues to prove itself as the #1 place where businesses and talent thrive.'
In the Southern Georgia region, the unemployment rate was also up two tenths to 3.9 percent, compared to January. The rate was also at 3.7 percent in February of 2024.
Despite the slight increases, Georgia’s unemployment numbers continue to be near record low levels for Pierce County and across the state.
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.
DeBroux is serving an interim appointment. Georgia Labor Commissioner Bruce Thompson died in November, 2024, following a battle with pancreatic cancer.
