Georgia officials announce ‘all-time high’ employment in April

ATLANTA — In the latest job report for the state of Georgia, Labor Department officials said April’s job surge gave the state its all-time highest level of employment.

According to a statement from Georgia Labor Commissioner Bruce Thompson, the April unemployment rate was 3.1%, unchanged for the fourth month in a row.

“The unemployment rate was eight-tenths lower than the national unemployment rate,” the Georgia Department of Labor said in a statement.

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The state said April saw 15,500 more job over the month, for a total of 69,900 new jobs over the year, hitting an all-time high of 4,967,400 jobs.

“Jobs for Georgians is something we take seriously in the Peach State,” Thompson said in a statement. “With nearly 70,000 jobs added to the economy over the last year, including a whopping 15,000 this past month alone, there are now more opportunities than ever to launch Georgians into high-demand careers that meet industry needs head-on. While the future remains unclear, all signs are pointing toward Georgia as a perennial leader in growing jobs and creating economic opportunity for all.”

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In terms of where the jobs were moving, labor officials said professional, scientific, technical services, durable goods manufacturing, health care and social assistance, wholesale trade and finance and insurance all saw what they called the “most over-the-month job gains.”

On the flip side, local government, retail trade and transportation and warehousing jobs all saw decreases, with the most job losses in local government.

Private education and health services jobs saw all-time highs, alongside leisure and hospitality and financial activity, according to state officials.

Jobs in information, which the state said included motion picture and sound recording industries, were down by nearly 14,000 positions.

Still, the overall labor force was up 13,655 to another all-time high of 5,357,124, showing a 61.5% labor force participation rate.

In the month of April GDOL said unemployment claims had risen 21%, but were still down 15% compared to the year before.

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