After nine straight months of decline, Georgia’s unemployment rate remained unchanged at 7.0 percent in April, as more people entered the labor force seeking work, the state labor department said Thursday.
“We had very strong job growth in April, as our employers created 41,300 new jobs, which is the largest March to April increase since 2005,” state Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said in a statement. “And, to make things even better, more jobseekers are entering the labor force and getting hired.”
Still, Georgia’s jobless rate continues to lag the national rate, which is currently 6.3 percent. Part of that gap can be explained, Butler said, by the fact that “hundreds of thousands of people” have given up their job search nationally, which means they are no longer counted as unemployed. That, he said, has been in “stark contrast” to Georgia, where more people have been trying to get work.
The number of jobs in Georgia increased to 4,107,800 in April, up 1.0 percent from March.
Most of the job gains came in leisure and hospitality — 16,700 new jobs; professional and business services — 10,900; trade, transportation and warehousing — 5,600; construction — 2,600; government — 2,200; and education and health services — 2,000.
But manufacturing, which had been producing jobs lately, lost 400 workers, primarily because of temporary layoffs in poultry processing in Southwest Georgia, the labor department said.
During the past year, the number of jobs increased by 75,700, as the unemployment rate fell from 8.3 percent in April 2013.
The big annual job gainers were professional and business services — 22,300 new jobs; trade, transportation and warehousing — 20,200; leisure and hospitality — 18,500; construction — 9,600; education and health services — 6,500; manufacturing — 5,400; financial services — 2,200; and other services — 1,200.
Government, meanwhile, lost 10,200 jobs.
Georgia’s labor force — those working or seeking employment — increased from March to April by 11,216 to reach 4,767,879. It was the fourth consecutive month the labor force has increased.
On the negative side, layoffs rose in April.
There were 33,561 new claims for unemployment insurance filed in April, an increase of 8.9 percent from March. Most of the increase in claims came in administrative and support services, 1,373, and manufacturing, 814.
Over the past year, however, initial claims were down by 21.3 percent. Most of the annual decline came in trade, transportation, and warehousing; administrative and support services; accommodations and food services; construction; and health care and social assistance.
