A year ago, the unemployment rate in the Gainesville metropolitan area was 2.6%, but when the coronavirus pandemic hit, businesses closed and jobs disappeared. The Georgia Department of Labor reported Thursday morning that the April jobless rate for Gainesville rose to 10.6%, breaking previous all-time highs.
Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said all MSAs across the state saw a dramatic jump in the unemployment rate and initial unemployment claims.
"Although we are seeing all-time high unemployment rates across a majority of the state, we are continuing to work with employers on effective strategies to get Georgians back to work in both a safe and economically efficient way," Butler said in his report.
The number of unemployment claims went up by 408 percent in April, which directly correlated with the number of temporary and potentially permanent lay-offs associated with COVID-19. When compared to last April, claims were up by about 10,122 percent.
Gainesville ended April with 86,000 jobs. That number decreased by 7,800 from March to April and was down by 6,800 when compared to this time last year.
The labor force decreased in April by 6,057 and ended the month with 96,929. That number is down 3,993 when compared to April of 2019.
Gainesville finished the month with 86,663 employed residents. That number decreased by 12,765 over the month and is down by 11,640 when compared to the same time a year ago.
Employ Georgia, the GDOL’s online job listing service at employgeorgia.com showed about 910 active job postings in metro Gainesville for April.
