The Georgia Department of Labor (GDOL) announced that Georgia’s unemployment rate dropped 0.3 percentage points to reach 4.5 percent in March while the state saw a significant increase in the number of jobs. 

“March is yet another month where we have seen job growth throughout the state,” said Labor Commissioner Mark Butler. “EmployGeorgia is showing triple the amount of job listings that we were seeing at the start of pandemic. Georgia has gained a vast majority of the jobs that were lost since March of last year, and we continue to remain strong in economic growth and business development.” 

Jobs in March increased by 21,800, reaching a total of 4,486,000. That number is down 151,000 compared to this same time last year. The job total listed online at EmployGeorgia is showing 223,000 job listings— triple the amount of the 70,000 listings in March of 2020.

Of the over 223,000 jobs currently listed on EmployGeorgia, over half of them advertise annual salaries over $40,000.  In many cases, employers are willing to train quality candidates and assist with attainment of additional credentials.  The sectors with the most over-the-month job gains included Administrative and Support Services, 3,500, Health Care, 2,400, Local Government, 1,800, Finance and Insurance, 1,700, and Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services, 1,700.

In March, the number of employed Georgians was up 29,854 to reach a total of 4,929,108, and the number of employed was up by 564,000 since April. Georgia’s labor force in March saw an increase of 15,762, reaching a total of 5,161,098.

The GDOL has paid nearly $20.6 billion in state and federal benefits since the beginning of the pandemic in March of this year. Last week, the GDOL issued $236 million in benefits, which include regular unemployment and federally funded Lost Wages Assistance (LWA) supplements, Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC), Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC), and State Extended Benefits. 

In March, initial unemployment claims increased by 29 percent (32,102) since February to reach 143,410. Since week ending March 21, 2020, 4,658,980 regular UI initial claims have been processed, more than the nine years prior to the pandemic combined (4 million). Last week, regular UI initial claims totaled 38,382, up 4,759 over the week. Additionally, the agency currently has 240,594 active PUA claims.

The sectors with the most weekly regular UI initial claims processed included Accommodation and Food Services, 11,906, Administrative and Support Services, 4,043, Manufacturing, 3,160, Retail Trade, 2,226, and Health Care, 2,149.

The number of initial unemployment claims filed throughout the United States for the week ending April 10, was 576,000, a decrease of 193,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 769,000. This is the lowest level for initial claims since March 14, 2020 when it was 256,000.

UI benefits are taxable income and 1099-G tax forms are issued in accordance with federal law to report payments and all taxes withheld during each tax year. If you received a 1099-G tax form and did not file a UI claim yourself or your employer did not file one on your behalf, you may be the victim of UI fraud and should report the incident on the GDOL website at https://www.dol.state.ga.us/public/uiben/fraud/reportType. Select Report 1099 ID Theft at the bottom and follow the instructions.  If you received a 1099-G tax form and returned the benefits or wish to return the benefits, please see detailed instructions on next steps at https://dol.georgia.gov/blog/form-1099-g-tax-information. 

Resources for reemployment assistance along with Information on filing an unemployment claim and details on how employers can file partial claims can be found on the agency's webpage at dol.georgia.gov.

For more information on jobs and current labor force date, visit the Georgia Labor Force Market Explorer at www.explorer.gdol.ga.gov to view a comprehensive report.