Georgia’s unemployment rate was down once again for the month of April. The state unemployment rate continues to decline, according to the most recent numbers from the Georgia Department of Labor.
State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler says Georgia showed year-over-year gains in jobs, employment, and workforce.
“I think we’re doing really good due to the fact that we have a lot of job openings,” according to Butler. “I think where most states are having issues, including Georgia, is we need more individuals in the workforce right now to fill a lot of our jobs.”
He says the types of jobs people are getting may also be improving.
“The good news is I think what we’re going to be seeing right now, and it’s going to be a while before we can actually get a good picture of this, is a lot of individuals that may have been stuck in some of the lower-tier jobs, may be moving up into better jobs right now.”
At the same time, claims for unemployment insurance were down when compared to last April.
While Georgia’s job total fell by nearly 15,000 in April, Butler says the state was still up nearly 70,000 jobs when compared to the same time last April.
The top sectors for annual growth were education/health services, professional/business services, and leisure/hospitality.
“But we’re not seeing as many people joining the workforce, hopefully that’s going to change in this next month as we see a lot of these college graduates and high-school graduates hit the job market.”
He says, at the same time, new claims for unemployment were up by about 12 percent compared with last month. For the year, they were down by 2 percent.
“When you’re seeing employment go down and jobs go down but layoffs not really moving much, or over the year, you’re actually seeing fewer layoffs this year than we did the same time last year, I think we’re starting to see some the effects what we have been predicting for a while now as our economy has gotten to a place that’s somewhat normal.”
There were more than 80-thousand jobs posted onEmployGeorgia.com in April. The DOL urges both those wanting post positions and those looking for jobs to visit the site.
