Georgia Department of Labor (DOL) officials announce this week that the state’s unemployment rate dropped another 0.2 percentage points to reach 4.3 percent in April.
Last month, Georgia reported the lowest unemployment rate among the 10 most-populated states.
This, according to a press release that staff for Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp published Friday.
“Thanks to our efforts to protect both lives and livelihoods throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, more Georgians are returning to normal and the Peach State is leading the nation in economic recovery,” Kemp said in the press release.
“Our unemployment rate, which has declined for 12 straight months and remains below the national average, highlights the resilience of Georgia businesses and workers and the strength of our state’s diverse economy. Georgia is open for business.”
DOL officials, in a separate press release, said the following:
• In April, the labor force was up 11,336 to reach a total of 5,172,407, and has increased 186,000 since the beginning of the pandemic.
• Georgia’s employed residents in April saw an increase of 22,222, reaching a total of 4,951,267, and was up 586,000 since April 2020.
• The job total listed online at EmployGeorgia is showing 239,000 job listings— over triple the amount of the 70,000 listings in April of 2020.
• Of the over 239,000 jobs currently listed on EmployGeorgia, 72 percent show salaries more than $30,000. In many cases, employers are willing to train quality candidates and assist with attainment of additional credentials.
• The sectors with the most over-the-month job gains included health care and social assistance, 3,500, professional, scientific, and technical services, 1,500, and heavy and civil engineering construction, 1,400.
• Last week, regular unemployment insurance initial claims totaled 25,441, down 7,392 over the week.
The number of Americans filing new unemployment claims dropped to 444,000 last week as the economy continues to slowly recover from COVID-19, according to the Department of Labor. The Bureau of Labor and Statistics figure released Thursday represented a decrease in the number of new jobless claims compared to the week ending May 8, when 478,000 new jobless claims were reported. That number was revised up from the 473,000 jobless claims initially reported last week.
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
