The Georgia Department of Labor (GDOL) announced that Georgia’s unemployment rate dropped 0.3 percentage points in February to reach 4.8 percent and has decreased 7.7 percentage points since the start of the pandemic. Georgia’s January unemployment rate was 1.4 percent lower than the national unemployment rate.

“We are continuing to see a surge in employment here in Georgia,” said Commissioner of Labor Mark Butler. “As Georgians return to the workforce and businesses continue to hire, we can look forward to steady economic growth across the state.”

The job total listed online at EmployGeorgia has nearly tripled since the beginning of the pandemic from the April 2020 listing of just 73,000 jobs. Of the over 218,000 jobs currently listed on EmployGeorgia, over half of them advertise annual salaries over $40,000.  In many cases, employers are willing to train quality candidates and assist with attainment of additional credentials.

In February, the number of employed Georgians was up 45,760 to reach a total of 4,899,537, and the number of employed was up by 534,000 since April.  

Georgia’s labor force in February saw an increase of 33,074 to reach a total of 5,145,311. That number is also up 159,000 since the start of the pandemic in April. 

Jobs in February increased by 1,700, reaching a total of 4,452,900. That number is down 213,600 compared to this same time last year.

In February, initial unemployment claims decreased by 15 percent (19,118) since January to reach 111,308. Claims were up by 396 percent (88,856) over the year.

Resources for reemployment assistance along with Information on filing an unemployment claim and details on how employers can file partial claims can be found on the agency's webpage at dol.georgia.gov.

For more information on jobs and current labor force date, visit the Georgia Labor Force Market Explorer at www.explorer.gdol.ga.gov to view a comprehensive report.