The Georgia Department of Labor (GDOL) announced today that the number of jobs and employment numbers were up in every metropolitan statistical area (MSA) from February to March of 2021. The unemployment rate was down over the month in every MSA. For March, the unemployment rate was down and the labor force and employment numbers were up in every reported regional commission.

“We had another strong month in March,” said Commissioner of Labor Mark Butler. “We saw the unemployment rate drop, along with an increase in jobs across the state, and most importantly, a decrease in over-the-year initial claims for every region.”

As of today, over 230,000 jobs are listed on EmployGeorgia for Georgians to access. These listings could include multiple positions for each job indicating a much higher number of positions available. In many cases, employers are willing to train quality candidates and assist with attainment of additional credentials. The GDOL offers online resources for finding a job, building a resume, and assisting with other reemployment needs. 

The GDOL has paid over $20.9 billion in state and federal benefits since the beginning of the pandemic in March of this year. Last week, the GDOL issued almost $217 million in benefits, which include regular unemployment and federally funded Lost Wages Assistance (LWA) supplements, Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC), Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC), and State Extended Benefits.

Since week ending March 21, 2020, 4,691,361 regular UI initial claims have been processed, more than the nine years prior to the pandemic combined (4 million). Last week, regular UI initial claims totaled 32,381, down 6,001 over the week. Additionally, the agency currently has 225,587 active PUA claims.

The sectors with the most weekly regular UI initial claims processed included Accommodation and Food Services, 9,184, Manufacturing, 3,366, Administrative and Support Services, 3,058, Health Care, 1,764, and Retail Trade, 1,729.

The number of initial unemployment claims filed throughout the United States for the week ending April 10, was 547,000, a decrease of 39,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 586,000. This is the lowest level for initial claims since March 14, 2020 when it was 256,000.

UI benefits are taxable income and 1099-G tax forms are issued in accordance with federal law to report payments and all taxes withheld during each tax year. If you received a 1099-G tax form and did not file a UI claim yourself or your employer did not file one on your behalf, you may be the victim of UI fraud and should report the incident on the GDOL website at https://www.dol.state.ga.us/public/uiben/fraud/reportType. Select Report 1099 ID Theft at the bottom and follow the instructions. If you received a 1099-G tax form and returned the benefits or wish to return the benefits, please see detailed instructions on next steps at https://dol.georgia.gov/blog/form-1099-g-tax-information.

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 LaborMarket Explorer at explorer.gdol.ga.gov to view a comprehensive report.