While the number of unemployment insurance claims in August dropped statewide, including in the Gainesville metro, that may not hold true in September, thanks to the impact of Hurricane Irma.
The Georgia Department of Labor released statewide numbers on Thursday, and Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said he was encouraged by a continued downward trend in the unemployment rate and the number of initial unemployment insurance claims.
"There's no doubt we're probably going to see some effects from the hurricane when we see the current month's job numbers reflected this month," Butler said. "But, overall, if everything keeps going the way it's been going without any outside influence or worldwide events, I think Georgia's going to continue on the same trend."
Butler continued to point to job creation as the brightest spot in jobs reports this year.
"As a matter of fact, it looks like we're going to meet or beat almost all the projections for job growth for this year," Butler said.
As far as initial unemployment insurance claims, the decrease statewide in August was 12.6 percent, a drop of 3,435 initial claims from July.
In the Gainesville metro, the number was down 39, which translated to a 7.8 percent decrease. The most substantial decreases were recorded in Brunswick, Columbus and Rome.
