Georgia sets jobs record in July

State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said this week that Georgia added jobs again in July as the state’s unemployment rate approached an all-time low.

The commissioner also noted that preliminary figures showed Georgia’s number of employed residents continued to climb. Meanwhile, Georgia’s workforce dipped slightly again.

The July jobs number was a record again.

“It seems like we are setting a record for jobs almost every month,” Butler said. “I’d like to see the labor force start climbing. But we are creating jobs and people continue to get those jobs. Overall, I’m pleased with how Georgia did in July.”

Nationally, the unemployment rate was unchanged in July at 3.7 percent. Georgia’s rate dropped 0.1 percentage points to settle at 3.6 percent.  A year ago, Georgia’s unemployment rate sat at 3.8 percent. Georgia’s all-time low of 3.4 percent was recorded in 2000.

Meanwhile, Georgia added 3,400 jobs in July, pushing the total to 4.62 million jobs – a new record for the state. That number is up nearly 75,000 from the same time last year.

“Georgia has consistently done as well or better than the national economy,” Butler said. “Georgia has a very mature, diverse economy.”

Georgia had two job sectors that added at least 1,000 jobs in July:

• Professional/business services, 1,800
• Trade/transportation/utilities, 1,000.

In terms of annual change, four sectors were up more than 10,000:

• Professional/business services, 16,700
• Education/health services, 15,900
• Construction, 12,400
• Leisure/hospitality 11,600.

In July, the number of employed residents went up again with a gain of 4,389 that pushed Georgia’s number of employed to 4.92 million.

Georgia’s labor force slipped again in July, dropping by less than 1,000 versus a total work force of more than 5.1 million. Even with the monthly loss, the labor force total remained higher than the same month a year ago.

At the same time, new claims for unemployment increased in July. The total number of claims filed in July climbed by 51 percent. They were down by about 6 percent compared with July 2018.

In July, EmployGeorgia.com noted about 66,000 job postings.

This is a press release from the Georgia Department of Labor.