Jobs report tileThe number of Georgians on the job rose last month to the highest level since November 2008, cutting the state's jobless during October to 8.1 percent.
The Georgia Department of Labor announced today that Georgia's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was down 0.2 percent last month and was 0.7 percent below the August rate of 8.8 percent.
Because of the federal government shutdown, no state employment numbers were previously published for September.
Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said he is encouraged by the improvement in the labor market during the interim.
"We've seen Georgia gain almost 30,000 jobs over the last two months," he said. "And, the good thing about the job creation is that it's pretty much through all sectors."
Statewide, Georgia added 22,700 jobs during the month of October and 85,500 jobs over the entire past year.
The biggest job gains in the past year came in metro Atlanta, where employment by a strong 2.7 percent with the addition of 63,300 job over the past year.
Metropolitan Dalton, which shed nearly one of every five jobs during the recession and its aftermath, rebounded in the past year with the addition of 700 jobs, or 1.1 percent more employment, from October 2012 to last month.
Four of Georgia's 14 metro areas still lost jobs in the past year. Metro Rome had 200 fewer people on the job last month than a year ago, or a 0.5 percent decline in employment.
Statewide over the past year, professional and business services added 30,600 jobs; leisure and hospitality added 19,900 jobs; education and health services added 7,600, and trade and transportation added 16,300 jobs
"And, most importantly, we saw construction again show strength in that over the year more than 7,500 jobs have been created in construction in Georgia," Butler said.
Despite Georgia's improving job picture, the state's unemployment rate last month was still 0.8 percent above the U.S. rate of 7.3 percent.