The number of jobs was up and the unemployment rate was down for the month of March in Georgia.
The Georgia Department of Labor (GDOL) announced Thursday that Georgia’s unemployment rate dropped 0.3 percentage points to reach 4.5% in March; additionally, the state saw a significant increase in the number of jobs.
"March is yet another month where we have seen job growth throughout the state," said Labor Commissioner Mark Butler in a prepared statement. “EmployGeorgia is showing triple the amount of job listings that we were seeing at the start of the pandemic. Georgia has gained a vast majority of the jobs that were lost since March of last year, and we continue to remain strong in economic growth and business development."
Butler said job numbers in March increased by 21,800, reaching a total of 4,486,000. The number is down 151,000 compared to this same time last year. The job total listed online at EmployGeorgia is showing 223,000 job listings— triple the amount of the 70,000 listings in March of 2020.
Of the over 223,000 jobs currently listed on EmployGeorgia, over half of them advertise annual salaries over $40,000. In many cases, employers are willing to train quality candidates and assist with the attainment of additional credentials. The sectors with the most over-the-month job gains included Administrative and Support Services, 3,500, Health Care, 2,400, Local Government, 1,800, Finance and Insurance, 1,700, and Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services, 1,700.
In March, the number of employed Georgians was up 29,854 to reach a total of 4,929,108, and the number of employed was up by 564,000 since April. Georgia’s labor force in March saw an increase of 15,762, reaching a total of 5,161,098.
The GDOL has paid nearly $20.6 billion in state and federal benefits since the beginning of the pandemic in March of this year. Last week, the GDOL issued $236 million in benefits.
In March, initial unemployment claims increased by 29 percent (32,102) since February to reach 143,410. Since the week ending March 21, 2020, 4,658,980 regular UI initial claims have been processed, more than the nine years prior to the pandemic combined (4 million). Last week, regular UI initial claims totaled 38,382, up 4,759 over the week. Additionally, the agency currently has 240,594 active PUA claims.
The sectors with the most weekly regular UI initial claims processed included Accommodation and Food Services, 11,906, Administrative and Support Services, 4,043, Manufacturing, 3,160, Retail Trade, 2,226, and Health Care, 2,149.
The number of initial unemployment claims filed throughout the United States for the week ending April 10, was 576,000, a decrease of 193,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 769,000. This is the lowest level for initial claims since March 14, 2020 when it was 256,000.
Resources for reemployment assistance along with Information on filing an unemployment claim and details on how employers can file partial claims can be found on the agency's webpage at dol.georgia.gov.
For more information on jobs and current labor force data, visit the Georgia Labor Force Market Explorer at www.explorer.gdol.ga.gov to view a comprehensive report.
