Georgia jobless claims dropped 11% last week, following a national trend.
The state Department of Labor processed 28,764 initial claims, which is about 27% fewer than a month ago, officials said.
Nationally, about 575,000 people filed first-time claims for state unemployment benefits last week, a slight decrease from the previous week, according to the U.S. Labor Department.
The U.S. Commerce Department said Thursday that the nation’s economy had surged at a 6.4% pace in the first three months of the year, fueled by consumer spending as the vaccine rollouts lured many people out of their homes.
Georgia hiring has been strong, and many businesses are complaining that they are having trouble finding workers. More than 240,000 positions are listed on the state’s job site.
Among those hiring in metro Atlanta:
- The YMCA is adding nearly 500 people at more than a dozen locations. About one-quarter of the jobs will be full-time, according to a spokesman.
- Rudolph Foods is adding employees, including forklift drivers and packers, at its Lawrenceville plant.
- Andretti Indoor Karting is hiring more than 300 people for various positions in customer service and concessions at its new Gwinnett facility at The Exchange, according to a spokeswoman.
- CarMax is hiring about 90 people for customer service positions at its finance center in Kennesaw.
Georgia new jobless claims
Average week, pre-pandemic: 5,548
Worst week, pre-pandemic: 41,522 (Jan. 10, 2009)
Worst week, pandemic: 390,132 (April 4, 2020)
Average, first four weeks of April 2021: 33,288
Last week: 28,764
Total, since mid-March 2020: 4.7 million
Source: Georgia Department of Labor
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