State Unemployment Numbers Near Record Low in September

Georgia’s unemployment rate dipped in September to 3.7 percent – the lowest since May 2001.

Unemployment claims were also down in September by 14 percent, and 26 percent for the year.  The total number of unemployment claims for September was 18,23 – the lowest since June 1974.

At the same time, Georgia continued to set records for jobs and employed workers, according to State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler.

“First of all we saw the unemployment drop again to 3.7%, which is bringing us very close to our all-time low of 3.4%,” he said. “Not only that but we did see the State show a creation of about 15,000 jobs, which is very good job growth over the month, and we saw about 1,900 individuals actually gain employment last month.”

Butler said the job growth number actually set a record last month in Georgia and matched the national rate gain.

In September, Georgia added another 15,300 jobs to push the state’s total number to 4.57 million – a record. Over the past year, Georgia added 111,100 new jobs, or nearly 10,000 a month.

Butler says there’s still more room for job growth.

“When you take a look at the total number of jobs created over the last year and the total number of people who found employment over the last year, those two numbers are tracking almost the exact same,” Butler said. “So, I think we have plenty more room for improvement and plenty more room for growth. I fully expect the unemployment rate to continue to decrease and more importantly, I fully expect to continue to see putting more Georgians back to work.”

Job gains covered most industries and services, including Construction; Trade Transportation and Utilities; Education and Health Services; Professional and Business Services; Leisure and Hospitality.