Georgia’s unemployment rate declined to 8.6 percent in February from 8.7 percent in January, as employers created more jobs and laid off fewer workers, the state labor department said Thursday.
The jobless rate was at the lowest level since January 2009 and down from 9.2 percent a year ago. But it remains considerably higher than the national rate, currently 7.7 percent.
Georgia had a total of 3,975,700 jobs in February, an increase of 19,300 from January. Most of the job growth came in professional and business services — 7,500; education and health care — 4,300; and information services — 4,200.
During the past year, Georgia added 77,400 jobs, up 2.0 percent from February 2012. Most of the annual job increases came in professional and business services — 26,700; leisure and hospitality — 18,900; and education and health care — 15,700. The number of government jobs declined by 8,100 over the year.
Meanwhile, the number of first-time claims for unemployment insurance benefits dropped from 71,530 in January to 38,696 in February — the lowest level for any month since September 2007. The decreases came mostly in manufacturing, administrative and support services, construction, trade, transportation, warehousing, and accommodations and food services.
The number of long-term unemployed workers declined for the 10th consecutive month. It fell 3,700 to 187,600 in February — its lowest level since January 2010. The long-term unemployed — those out of work for more than 26 weeks — make up 44.9 percent of those unemployed in Georgia.
