As the unemployment rate in the Gainesville metro area fell to 2.1%, Gainesville also set a series of jobs records in November.
State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said Gainesville set records for jobs, employment and the labor force. There was a small increase in unemployment filings in the one-county metropolitan statistical area (MSA), preliminary numbers show.
“This November we had great job numbers across the board,” Butler said. “The state had an all-time low unemployment rate and many of our local communities set records too. Overall, it was quite a spectacular month when it comes to the jobs report.”
Nationally, the unemployment rate fell in November to 3.5 percent, a decrease of 0.1 percentage points. The nation also grew its labor force by 40,000, increased employment by 83,000 and added more 266,000 jobs.
Georgia’s unemployment rate, meanwhile, fell in November by 0.1 percentage points to 3.3 percent. That rate is the lowest since the federal government began keeping records in 1976.
Rates fell across all of Georgia’s 14 MSAs. Eleven set or tied a record for lowest rate ever.
Gainesville’s unemployment dropped 0.3 percentage points in November to land at 2.1 percent. A year ago, the rate was 2.7 percent.
The labor force increased in November by 50 to reach 105,044 - an all-time high. That number is up by 1,549 from the total of November 2018.
Gainesville ended November with 102,849 employed residents - another all-time high. The number increased by 352 in November and was up by 2,166 over November 2018’s total.
Gainesville ended November with 98,600 jobs – another record high. The MSA added 600 jobs over the month but was up 3,400 jobs when compared to this time last year.
The number of unemployment claims increased in November by about 17 percent but were down by about 21 percent from the same period last year.
The one-county MSA includes Hall County.
Employ Georgia, the GDOL’s online job listing service at employgeorgia.com showed 884 active job postings in metro Gainesville for November.
