Georgia set yet another record in November when it comes to the state’s unemployment numbers. State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler says Georgia’s unemployment rate hit a historic low last month.
“Well it’s really kind of hard to say what stands out the most in a report like this,” according to Butler. “I’ve actually talked to some people who have been here a lot longer than I have, who have been watching these numbers for 20-25 years and they really have never seen a month where everything was truly positive, not only positive but record setting. You’re talking about setting records across all those indicators.”
Georgia’s unemployment rate of 3.3 percent was the lowest since the federal government began keeping records in 1976.
“I really don’t concentrate too much on the unemployment rate getting lower, going below three percent. I’m more worried about us being able to meet the demand of Georgia’s business when it comes to talent. I think that is going to be the big challenge going forward.”
The most recent numbers show the state also set records for employment, jobs and workforce. Butler says the news was encouraging in every area.
“We even had even more good news, we had the fewest number of individuals that are counted as unemployed that we’ve seen since 2001, when there was a million fewer people in the workforce; and we also saw claims for unemployment benefits also go down for the month. So, quite a spectacular month when it comes to the jobs report.”
"You're talking about setting records across all those indicators," according to Butler.
The department’s job listing service, EmployGeorgia.com had nearly 92,000 job postings in November.
At the same time, new claims for unemployment decreased in November by 18 percent from the previous month. They were down by about 33 percent as compared with November 2018.
