The unemployment rate held steady in Georgia for the month of August, and State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said that number and other data point to a healthy economy for the state.
"August was the type of month I like to see for Georgia," Butler said. "We gained ground across the board while setting records for jobs and employed residents. It was great to see the labor force growing again.”
Butler said in Thursday morning's jobs report that Georgia broke records again in August – posting all-time highs in jobs and employment.
In addition, the state added to its labor force for the first time in six months and saw new unemployment claims fall.
Georgia’s unemployment rate held constant in August, staying at 3.6 percent. A year ago, Georgia’s unemployment rate sat at 3.8 percent. The state’s all-time low of 3.4 percent was set in December 2000.
Nationally, the unemployment rate was unchanged in August at 3.7 percent. The nation also grew its labor force, increased the number of employed residents and added more 130,000 jobs.
"While there’s been a lot of talk nationally about a slowdown,” Butler said. “I don’t see any evidence of that in Georgia.”
Georgia added 20,800 jobs in August, pushing the total to 4.64 million jobs – a new record for the state. That number is up nearly 85,000 from the same time last year.
Georgia had seven job sectors that added at least 1,000 jobs in August:
- Professional/business services, 5,300
- Leisure/hospitality, 4,000
- Education/health services, 3,500
- Government, 2,900
- Information, 2,500
- Financial activities, 1,400
- Other services, 1,000.
In terms of annual change, four sectors were up more than 10,000:
- Education/health services, 18,000
- Professional/business services, 17,600
- Leisure/hospitality, 17,400
- Construction, 11,200.
With all that job growth, Georgia also set records for the most jobs ever in leisure/hospitality, education/health and financial activities.
“Right now, Georgia is looking very strong,” Butler said.
In August, the number of employed residents went up for the third consecutive month with a gain of 8,672 that pushed Georgia’s number of employed to 4.93 million.
Georgia’s labor force grew in August by 5,478, adding to a total work force of more than 5.1 million. That number was up by 4,107 from the same month a year ago.
At the same time, new claims for unemployment decreased in August. The total number of claims filed in August fell by 32 percent as compared to July. They were down by about 10 percent compared with August 2018.
In August, EmployGeorgia.com noted more than 90,000 job postings.
