Jobs report tileBuoyed by the strongest yearly job growth in eight years, Georgia's unemployment rate fell last month by four-tenths of a percent to 7.7 percent.
The Georgia Department of Labor reported today that the state's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in November was the lowest since November 2008, when it was 7.6 percent. The jobless rate was down a full percentage point from 8.7 percent a year ago.
"The rate is down because of strong job growth and a very good drop in new claims for unemployment insurance benefits," said State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler. "The number of new jobs is the best October to November growth since 2007 and the number of new claims is the lowest for any month since September 2007. Both of these numbers pre-date the recession."
Unemployment in Georgia during November was still above the U.S. average of 7 percent.
Georgia gained 91,200 jobs, or 2.3 percent, since November 2012 when there were 4,004,300 jobs.
"The November to November job growth is the strongest for that period in eight years," said Butler. "The growth came in several industries, which indicates a broad job market recovery."