See The Unemployment Rate In Georgia As Labor Day Nears

GEORGIA — As the upcoming Labor Day holiday celebrates workers in Georgia and across America, many are still finding themselves without a job, even as the coronavirus pandemic nears its year-and-a-half mark.

The unemployment rate in Georgia in July was 3.7, according to the latest state-by-state numbers available from the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics — and while this is still higher than pre-pandemic levels, the state's unemployment rate has managed to drop for 15 consecutive months.

"With nearly 84,000 jobs added in the last two months and the lowest unemployment rate of the ten most populous states, Georgia's economic momentum continues to lead the nation," Gov. Brian Kemp said in a news release. "In the industry sectors of trade, transportation, utilities and business services, Georgia now has more jobs than prior to the pandemic, with restaurants and hotels also adding over 15,000 jobs since June. Coming off a record fiscal year for new investments and job growth in the Peach State, my administration will continue to protect both lives and livelihoods and make sure Georgia stays open for business."

Nationally, the unemployment rate declined by 0.5 percentage points, to 5.4 percent, in July, the labor bureau’s most recent jobs report shows. That month, about 8.7 million Americans were out of work, still much more than the 5.7 million who were unemployed in February 2020.

“Notable job gains occurred in leisure and hospitality, in local government education and in professional and business services,” the bureau wrote in its report.

The labor bureau’s August jobs report will likely be available by the second week of September.

Unemployment in Georgia is still higher than it was in pre-pandemic days — but only slightly. The annual unemployment rate for the state’s labor force in 2019 was 3.5, according to the labor bureau.

Additionally, the number of unemployed people in Georgia dropped by almost 15,000 between June and July, but that still means at least 193,486 people are unemployed, according to state numbers.

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The national unemployment rate nearly tripled from the summers of 2019 to 2020, a clear result of shutdowns related to the pandemic. The rate skyrocketed from 3.7 percent to 10.2 percent from July 2019 to July 2020, according to the labor bureau.

Numbers from July 2021 do show unemployment across the country is down nearly a half from the year before, although continued job gains could be in jeopardy due to the recent surge in delta variant coronavirus cases.