Georgia jobless claims rise as COVID cases climb

Metro Atlanta’s unemployment rate improved in October
The Georgia Deparment of Labor has been swamped with applications for jobless benefits since March.  (AJC file photo)

The Georgia Deparment of Labor has been swamped with applications for jobless benefits since March. (AJC file photo)

Georgia reported an increase in new jobless claims filed last week, a signal that the state’s economic recovery may face more speed bumps as COVID-19 cases rise.

The Georgia Department of Labor processed 29,088 initial jobless claims for the week ending Nov. 21, up 48% from the previous week. That reversed a five-week trend of improvement in new jobless claims, although the latest tally remained much lower than earlier during the pandemic.

Georgia’s performance mirrored the rise in new jobless claims on a national level, where 778,000 people applied for unemployment benefits last week, a 4% increase from a week earlier.

It was the first time that new jobless claims nationally increased for two consecutive weeks since July, which was also the last time the U.S. saw a spike in COVID-19 cases.

Georgia remained in the coronavirus “red zone” for the third straight week, according to the latest White House Coronavirus Task Force report issued last Sunday, and the seven-day rolling average of confirmed cases has more than doubled since early October.

Meanwhile, metro Atlanta’s unemployment rate for October dropped to 6.6% from 8.5% in September, the Labor Department said Thursday. Metro Atlanta added 86,073 jobs during the month.

The number of job openings statewide rose 5% to 168,000 compared to the previous week, according to online job postings at EmployGeorgia.