While Georgia’s unemployment rate remained at 2.8% last month, the number of jobs hit another record high in August, the state Department of Labor reported Thursday.
The unemployment rate declined two-tenths of a percentage point last month to 3.5%, lower than the 3.6% jobless rate posted in March 2020, the Georgia Department of Labor reported Thursday. The number of unemployed dropped to about 182,000, also below the pre-pandemic level of 187,000.
Georgia’s unemployment rate fell to 4.3% last month, down from 4.5% in March, the state Department of Labor reported Thursday. While the number of jobs in April declined by 9,300 from the previous month, it was up by 416,000 compared to April of last year, when the coronavirus pandemic was forcing businesses across Georgia to shut down and lay off workers.
Gov. Brian Kemp, Labor Commissioner Mark Butler and conservative allies have characterized the $300 checks as an incentive to keep Georgians off the job, which they say has contributed to a labor shortage.
Labor advocates and state lawmakers in Georgia called on Gov. Brian Kemp Wednesday to reverse his decision to end expanded federal unemployment benefits next month, saying the move would hurt low-wage workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
When COVID-19 spurred an emergency shelter in place order last April, magician Stephen Spanks’ gigs vanished – poof – and like hundreds of thousands of other Georgians, he was left wondering how he would pay his bills.
Over a half million Georgians have received their first federal unemployment insurance supplement in more than a month this week as the state Department of Labor disburses $463 million under the Lost Wages Assistance program.
Georgia is asking for a $1.1 billion loan from the federal government to help refill the state’s depleted Unemployment Trust Fund, which pays unemployment benefits to displaced workers.
The Georgia Department of Labor is taking steps to make it easier for workers to access unemployment services. The department is waiving any in-person...
