Georgia’s Unemployment Rate Unchanged at 7 Percent in April

The Georgia Department of Labor (GDOL) announced Thursday that Georgia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for April was 7.0 percent, unchanged from March.

Georgia’s jobless rate remained unchanged last month following nine consecutive months of decline. 

And while the rate was significantly lower than in April a year ago when it was 8.3 percent, the state's unemployment rate continues to lag behind the national rate, currently at 6.3 percent.

“We had very strong job growth in April, as our employers created 41,300 new jobs, which is the largest March to April increase since 2005,” said State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler in a news release. “And, to make things even better, more jobseekers are entering the labor force and getting hired. This is a stark contrast to what we’re seeing nationally with hundreds of thousands of people leaving the labor force.”

The U.S. Department of Labor announced last week that 806,000 people left the nation’s work force in April.

The number of jobs in Georgia increased to 4,107,800 in April, up 1.0 percent from 4,066,500 in March. Most of the job gains came in leisure and hospitality, 16,700; professional and business services, 10,900; trade, transportation and warehousing, 5,600; construction, 2,600; government, 2,200; and education and health services, 2,000. Manufacturing lost 400 jobs, due largely to temporary layoffs in poultry processing in Southwest Georgia.

Over the year, the number of jobs increased by 75,700, or 1.9 percent, from 4,032,100 jobs in April 2013. The big job gainers were professional and business services, 22,300; trade, transportation and warehousing, 20,200; leisure and hospitality, 18,500; construction, 9,600; education and health services, 6,500; manufacturing, 5,400; financial services, 2,200; and other services, 1,200. Government lost 10,200 jobs.

Georgia’s labor force increased from March to April by 11,216 to 4,767,879. This was the fourth consecutive month the labor force has increased.

There were 33,561 new claims for unemployment insurance filed in April, an increase of 2,747, or 8.9 percent, from 30,814 in March. Most of the increase in claims came in administrative and support services, 1,373, and manufacturing, 814.

Over the year, however, initial claims were down by 21.3 percent. There were 9,083 fewer claims filed than the 42,644 in April 2013. Most of the decline over the year came in trade, transportation, and warehousing, 1,972; administrative and support services, 1,506; accommodations and food services, 1,323; construction, 703; and health care and social assistance, 589.