For February, the Gainesville metro area saw positive over-the-month measures in nearly every employment category, according to the State Department of Labor.
"February’s numbers are a strong indication the state is getting back to where it was prior to the pandemic,” said Labor Commissioner of Labor Mark Butler. “Not only are we seeing growth for nearly every indicator in each MSA, but we are seeing the momentum start to switch in our favor. The unemployment rates are drastically dropping, the labor force numbers are gearing up, and most importantly, we are seeing initial claims decrease in almost every MSA.”
In Gainesville, the unemployment rate decreased by 0.3 percentage points in February, reaching an even 3% unemployment rate. A year ago, the rate was 2.6%.
Other positive key indicators for the month included:
- The labor force increased in Gainesville by 545 and ended the month with 103,672. That number is down 1,420 when compared to February of 2020.
- Gainesville finished the month with 100,535 employed residents. That number increased by 805 over the month and is down by 1,786 when compared to the same time a year ago.
Butler said there were at least two areas that did not show improvement. Gainesville ended February with 91,800 jobs, which was a drop of 300 from January to February and a decrease of 3,200 when compared to this time last year. In addition, the number of unemployment claims went up by 5% in Gainesville. When compared to last February, claims were up by about 474%.
Employ Georgia, the GDOL’s online job listing service at employgeorgia.com showed about 1,487 active job postings in metro Gainesville for February.
