Georgia’s unemployment rate dropped to 3.1 percent in October, the lowest rate in Georgia’s recorded history.
This, according to Georgia Department of Labor (DOL) Commissioner Mark Butler in an emailed press release Thursday.
“The rate was down two-tenths from a revised 3.3 percent in September,” according to the press release.
“The national October 2021 unemployment rate was down two-tenths to 4.6 percent. Jobs in Georgia were up 21,000 over the month and are up 4.5 percent over the year to 4,605,600.”
Since May 2021, job growth has increased by 117,400. October’s growth marks only the fifth time since 1990 that over-the-month job growth for October was over 20,000. The sectors of administrative and support services, transportation and warehousing, and retail trade have all recouped the jobs lost during the pandemic and have added to their respective totals, the press release said.
“At the same time, accommodation and food services, local government, and religious, grants, civic, and professional services, among others, continue to struggle to fill jobs. In October, the labor force dropped 1,889 to 5,174,052, while the number of employed rose 11,008 to 5,015,945. The number of unemployed was down 12,897 to 158,107,” according to the press release.
“In comparing October 2021 figures to pre-pandemic March 2020 figures, the labor force remains down 32,000, the number of employed remains down 3,000, and the number of unemployed is now down 29,000.”
GDOL officials announced last month that Georgia’s unemployment rate dropped three-tenths of a percentage point to 3.2 percent in September. GDOL officials said at the time that was an all-time low for Georgia, dipping below the rate of 3.3 percent in January 2020. The number of employed people rose above 5 million for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, while the number of unemployed was reported at 161,786, the lowest level since June 2001.
Employers with more than 1,000 jobs posted included Amazon, Piedmont Healthcare, Home Depot, and Walmart, among others.
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
