It has been along time coming, but Coweta County’s unemployment rate declined half a point in July to 10.7 percent, while unemployment across the 10-county Three Rivers Region increased slightly to 13.2 percent.

Preliminary unemployment figures for July released Thursday by Georgia Dept. of Labor showed Coweta’s unemployment at 10.7 percent compared to an 11.2 percent rate in June. Signs of the recession are still evident in those numbers when compared to the 6.3 percent unemployment rate in July 2008.

Coweta has 6,353 people without jobs in a workforce of 59,442, according to DOL.

Newnan also saw a decline in unemployment in the past month. July figures showed the city with a 12.9 percent jobless rate compared to 13.2 percent in June. The unemployment rate was 7.7 percent in July 2008.

The 10-county Three Rivers Regional Commission area saw a slight increase in unemployment last month, with the rate rising from 13.1 percent in June to 13.2 percent in July. The rate in July 2008 was 7.7 percent. DOL for July showed 29,922 people jobless out of a labor force of 227,115.

The recently established Three Rivers Regional Commission was formed from the Chattahoochee-Flint area, of which Coweta was a part, and the McIntosh Trail area. The 10-county area includes Butts, Coweta, Carroll, Heard, Lamar, Meriwether, Pike, Spalding, Troup and Upson counties.

Georgia’s unemployment showed an increase in July to 10.6 percent, up from 10.4 percent in June and 6.6 percent in July 2008.

National unemployment figures for July held steady at 9.7 percent. The national unemployment rate a year ago was 6.0 percent.

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