September was another strong month for job growth in Georgia, according to State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler.
In his monthly report, issued Thursday morning, Butler said Georgia set a record again in September for total employed residents as the jobless rate ticked down to 3.5%.
"Setting another record for employed residents is especially important because it proves we are not only producing jobs but residents are getting them," Butler said.
Georgia’s unemployment rate also fell 0.1 percentage points in September to reach 3.5 percent. A year ago, Georgia’s unemployment rate sat at 3.7 percent. The state’s all-time low of 3.4 percent was set in December 2000.
Nationally, the unemployment rate dropped 0.2 percentage points in September to 3.5 percent.
"We continue to approach the record low unemployment rate," Butler said.
Georgia did lose 2,100 jobs in September, against a total of more than 4.64 million jobs. Butler said he was not overly concerned with that statistic, saying the number was up nearly 80,000 from the same time last year.
Georgia had six job sectors that added at least 5,000 jobs since last September:
- Education/health services, 20,400
- Leisure/hospitality, 15,900
- Professional/business services, 14,500
- Construction, 9,700
- Government, 8,600
- Trade/transportation/utilities, 6,000.
In September, the number of employed residents went up with a gain of 9,172 that pushed Georgia’s number of employed to 4.93 million – a new record for the state.
Georgia’s labor force grew in September by 4,355, bringing the total workforce to more than 5.1 million. That number was up by 3,615 from the same month a year ago.
At the same time, new claims for unemployment decreased in September. The total number of claims filed in September fell by 2 percent. They were up by about 2 percent compared with September 2018.
In September, EmployGeorgia.com noted more than 95,000 job postings.
