Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler announced today that Georgia’s trade and transportation sector has exceeded one million jobs for the first time in the state’s history. Gaining 11,600 jobs in April, the Trade and Transportation sector has rebounded from an 88,500-job deficit in April 2020. More than half a million of these jobs come from the retail trade sector, including Walmart, Kroger, Home Depot, and Publix – the biggest retailers in Georgia. Retail trade was one of the top five sectors hit the hardest during the pandemic losing almost 65,000 jobs at the height of COVID-19. 

“We have seen a tremendous rebound in the trade and transportation sector here in Georgia with some of our biggest job gains concentrated in the retail trade market,” said Commissioner Butler. “Much of that growth stems from strong consumer demand for goods and services, as seen in additional job increases in accommodation and food services and administrative and support services.” 

Job numbers were at an all-time high in Trade and Transportation, 1,012,800, the first sector in the state to break the one million job plateau, including the Retail Trade sector, 519,000, the Transportation and Warehousing sector, 269,500, and the Wholesale Trade sector, 224,300. Job increases also included Financial Activities, 267,500, Professional and Business Services, 788,600, including the Administrative and Support Services sector, 380,700, and the Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services sector, 316,700, and the Health Care and Social Assistance sector, 530,300.

The sectors with the most over-the-year job gains included Accommodation and Food Services, 37,700, Administrative and Support Services, 37,200, Retail Trade, 24,800, Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services, 23,400, Transportation and Warehousing, 22,200, Health Care and Social Assistance, 19,600, and Wholesale Trade, 15,700.

Georgia's number of jobs was an all-time high of 4,765,500, up 19,000 from March to April and up 252,000 over the year. The sectors with the most over-the-month job gains included Wholesale Trade, 7,900, Administrative and Support Services, 6,200, Accommodation and Food Services, 3,000, Transportation and Warehousing, 2,000, and Retail Trade, 1,700.

There are over 227,000 jobs listed online at EmployGeorgia.com, resulting in a minimum of over 315,000 unfilled positions. Employers with over 1,000 job postings included Price Waterhouse, 2,400, Wellstar Health System, 1,800, United Health Group, 1,600, Walmart, 1,300, Home Depot 1,100, and Anthem Blue Cross, 1,000.

Industries with over ten thousand job postings included Health Care, 36,000, Manufacturing, 23,000, Accommodation and Food Services, 19,000, Retail Trade, 18,000, Professional, Scientific & Technical Services, 17,000, Finance and Insurance, 16,000, and Transportation and Warehousing, 12,000.

Market salaries for the jobs listed on Employ Georgia range from $23,000 to $103,000, showing a median salary of $43,000.

Commissioner Butler also announced today that Georgia’s April unemployment rate was equal to the all-time low set in March 2022 of 3.1 percent. Georgia’s unemployment rate was five-tenths of a percent lower than the national April 2022 unemployment rate of 3.6 percent.

The state set a new all-time high number of employed Georgians of 5,106,584, up 20,516 in April. The labor force was at an all-time high of 5,267,469, up 16,337 over the month, and the number of unemployed was down 4,179 to 160,885, the lowest figure since June 2001.

Initial claims were down 1,659 (9%) from March to 17,423 in April. Over the year initial claims were down 115,980 (87%).