Business & Tech

How Low Is Georgia's Jobless Rate?

The state's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is actually the lowest it's been in five years.

Patch Staff Report

The Georgia Department of Labor (GDOL) announced Thursday that state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased to 7.7 percent in November, its lowest point since November 2008, when it was 7.6 percent. 

The rate is down four-tenths of a percentage point from 8.1 percent in October and a full percentage point from 8.7 percent in November a year ago.

“The rate is down because of strong job growth and a very good drop in new claims for unemployment insurance benefits,” said State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler in a news release. “The number of new jobs is the best October to November growth since 2007 and the number of new claims is the lowest for any month since September 2007. Both of these numbers pre-date the recession.”

The number of jobs increased by 19,500, or 0.5 percent, from 4,076,000 in October to 4,095,500 in November, the most jobs in Georgia since September 2008. 

Growth came mostly in trade, transportation and warehousing with 14,700 new jobs. Government added 2,000; financial services, 1,700; construction and education and health care, 1,500 each; manufacturing, 1,000; and information services, 900, along with 100 in other services.

Over-the year, Georgia gained 91,200 jobs, or 2.3 percent, since November 2012 when there were 4,004,300 jobs.

“The November to November job growth is the strongest for that period in eight years,” said Butler in the release. “The growth came in several industries, which indicates a broad job market recovery.”

The gains came in professional and business services, 27,400; leisure and hospitality, 20,500; education and health services, 18,600; trade, transportation and warehousing, 16,500; construction, 13,100; and financial services, 5,900.  Government has lost 6,900 jobs in the past year.

The number of new layoffs, represented by initial claims for unemployment insurance (UI) benefits, decreased to 33,781, down by 6,351, or 15.8 percent, from 40,132 in October. Claims declined in several sectors, including manufacturing, 1,800; professional, scientific and technical services, 825; administrative and support services, 700; retail trade, 650; health care and social assistance, 600; transportation and warehousing, 300; and construction, 250. There were 47,351 claims in November 2012.

The overall number of unemployed Georgians decreased to 363,055, down by 20,322 from 383,377 in October. This is the fewest unemployed Georgians since October 2008 when there were 346,852. There were 420,382 unemployed residents in November 2012.


GDOL provided information for this story that was edited for publication.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here