Georgia jobless rate dips to 4.5 percent; Columbus job total steady

Hurricane Irma’s surge through the Southeast took a small bite out of Georgia’s job count in September, but not enough to impact the continuing decline in the state’s unemployment rate.

The Georgia Department of Labor reported Thursday that the state jobless figure in September was 4.5 percent, down from 4.7 percent in August. In September a year ago, the rate was 5.4 percent.

“Even though the hurricane did have a negative effect on Georgia's job and unemployment claims numbers, we still had a record month for employment and persons entering the workforce,” state labor Commissioner Mark Butler said in a statement. “This shows the strength of Georgia's economy and job market.”

The state saw its job count slip by about 500 in September as Irma’s high winds and heavy rain brought some areas of Georgia to a standstill, with the storm downing trees and causing widespread power outages in areas for a few days. Georgia also experienced nearly 25,000 unemployment claims during the month.

Year over year, however, Georgia still has gained more than 84,000 jobs, which naturally has put more people to work. At the end of September, Georgia’s job total was just under 4.5 million. Growth over the past year came primarily in the sectors of professional and business services, leisure and hospitality, education and health services, and trade, transportation and warehousing.

“It continues to be a very good year for Georgia's economy when you look at the whole picture,” Butler said.

Metro area data released Thursday showed no change in the Columbus job total since September 2016, with it remaining at 121,000. Macon and Rome also saw no gains, with Albany and Brunswick the only metro areas losing jobs since this time a year ago.

Of course, Atlanta added the most jobs over the past 12 months at 68,300. But Athens also gained 4,000, Augusta picked up 4,900 and Savannah increased by 4,300.

The labor department will release the September unemployment rates for Georgia’s metro areas next week. The Columbus rate in August was 5.7 percent.

Here are the September 2017 job totals for Georgia’s metro areas:

▪ Atlanta — 2,752,900

▪ Augusta — 240,100

▪ Savannah — 180,000

▪ Columbus — 121,000

▪ Macon — 103,000

▪ Athens — 98,500

▪ Gainesville — 89,500

▪ Warner Robins — 74,400

▪ Dalton — 70,800

▪ Albany — 62,200

▪ Valdosta — 56,800

▪ Brunswick — 43,700

▪ Rome — 41,100

▪ Hinesville — 20,500

This story was originally published October 19, 2017 at 11:48 AM with the headline "Georgia jobless rate dips to 4.5 percent; Columbus job total steady."