ATLANTA – Georgia’s economy not only has recovered from pre-pandemic levels but has expanded past numbers reported just before the coronavirus pandemic struck the Peach State two years ago.
The number of employed Georgians last month was up 75,000 compared to before the pandemic to an all-time high of nearly 5.1 million, the state Department of Labor reported Thursday. The state’s labor force has increased by 50,000 over the pre-pandemic level, and the number of unemployed has declined by 25,000.
“This state has continued to be successful in creating jobs and getting Georgians employed,” Georgia Commissioner of Labor Mark Butler said. “All of this has led to our number of unemployed being the lowest since June of 2001.”
The state’s unemployment rate in February was unchanged from January at 3.2%. The number of jobs was at an all-time high of 4.7 million, up 232,000 compared with February of last year.
First-time unemployment claims last month were down 6,180 to 22,077, a 22% decrease from January and an 80% decline from February 2021.
There are more than 230,000 jobs listed online at EmployGeorgia.com, resulting in a minimum of more than 320,000 unfilled positions. Industries with more than 10,000 job postings included health care with 38,000 postings, manufacturing with 22,000 postings, and retail trade with 21,000.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.