Georgia caps job-growth year with 4.4 percent unemployment rate
Georgia capped a record year for jobs with a December unemployment rate of 4.4 percent, which was up slightly from 4.3 percent in November.
The Georgia Department of Labor reported Thursday that the state added 5,600 jobs in December, giving Georgia 4,518,900 positions altogether, which topped the previous all-time high number of 4,513,300 jobs statewide. Georgia has added more than 83,000 jobs since December 2016, the department said.
“As we look back at the year, it was impressive,” State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said. “Over the year every major measurement improved considerably. In fact, we set records in several areas such as jobs, employment and work force.”
There was exceptional growth in the sectors of educational and health services, which now totals a record 589,300 positions, and leisure and hospitality, which now has 495,900 jobs. All job sectors added jobs, with the exception of manufacturing, which has lost 3,800.
In other data, Georgia had its second-highest number of employed residents at 4,871,108 in 2017, while its labor force is now at 5,095,939, which is up more than 113,000 for all of the past year. The labor force is the number of people who have jobs, along with those unemployed but actively seeking work.
“I’m encouraged with the exciting growth we saw in 2017,” Butler said.
Metro area data released Thursday showed Columbus adding 500 jobs from December 2016 to December 2017, giving it 122,800 altogether. That was on the lower end of growth statewide, with 5,100 jobs added year over year in Athens, 2,600 in Gainesville, 3,200 in Savannah and 1,300 in Warner Robins. Atlanta, naturally, led the pack with 55,600 jobs created over the past year.
The labor department will release the December unemployment rates for Georgia’s metro areas next week. The rate for the Columbus area in November was 5.1 percent, which was unchanged from October.
Georgia metro area job totals
Here are the December 2017 job totals for Georgia’s metro areas:
▪ Atlanta — 2,791,400
▪ Augusta — 246,00
▪ Savannah — 181,200
▪ Columbus — 122,800
▪ Macon — 104,200
▪ Athens — 99,000
▪ Gainesville — 91,300
▪ Warner Robins — 74,900
▪ Dalton — 70,400
▪ Albany — 63,600
▪ Valdosta — 57,200
▪ Brunswick — 44,400
▪ Rome — 41,500
▪ Hinesville — 20,500
This story was originally published January 18, 2018 at 12:28 PM with the headline "Georgia caps job-growth year with 4.4 percent unemployment rate."