Georgia Ending 2018 With Significant Job Growth

Georgia set a new record in November for total jobs as the state’s unemployment rate continued to fall.

The unemployment rate in Novemer was 3.5%, down .1 percent from October.

That’s the lowest rate since January 2001 and below the national unemployment rate of 3.7%.

“As we approach the end of 2018, it’s great to see so much progress,” noted State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler. “We have much to celebrate this holiday season. We continue to not only improve but set records.”

In addition, Butler said Georgia added nearly 100,000 jobs over the past year.

Butler says the strong numbers are not a surprise in a state that continues to not only create jobs but put people to work.

“We’re continuing to see Georgia grow jobs,” Butler said. “We had another good month for job growth. For the past several years, a lot of experts have said we would see less job growth each year, but it looks like if our job numbers hold, we’re actually going to have stronger growth than last year. With what’s going on in Georgia and what you see our businesses doing here, I believe we will continue to see jobs grow.”

Georgia’s labor force dipped slightly in November to end the month at 5.1 million, but even with the loss of 4,469 for the month, the labor force was still up almost 55,000 over the past year.

That’s an average gain of about 4,600 every month.

Job seekers can go online to dol.georgia.gov to learn more about career opportunities, Employ Georgia, and other GDOL services, or you can stop by the Toccoa Career Center.