Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said Thursday that Atlanta’s unemployment rate spiked in April, breaking its previous all-time high of 10.6 percent set in February of 2010.
Due to the effects of COVID-19, all MSA’s throughout the state saw a dramatic incline in initial claims along with every other major sector.
“Although we are seeing all-time high unemployment rates across a majority of the state, we are continuing to work with employers on effective strategies to get Georgians back to work in both a safe and economically efficient way,” said Butler.
In Atlanta, the unemployment rate increased 8.3 percentage points in April, reaching 12.7 percent. A year ago, the rate was 3 percent.
The number of unemployment claims went up by 324 percent in April, which directly correlated with the number of temporary and potentially permanent lay-offs associated with COVID-19. When compared to last April, claims were up by about 8,783 percent.
Atlanta ended April with 2,561,600 jobs. That number decreased by 293,800 from March to April and was down by 267,200 when compared to this time last year.
The labor force decreased in April by 195,869 and ended the month with 2,930,602. That number is down 121,522 when compared to April of 2019.
Atlanta finished the month with 2,559,638 employed residents. That number decreased by 427,982 over the month and is down by 400,626 when compared to the same time a year ago.
Employ Georgia, the GDOL’s online job listing service at employgeorgia.com showed about 50,212 active job postings in metro Atlanta for April.
Visit dol.georgia.gov to learn more about career opportunities, Employ Georgia and other GDOL services for job seekers and employers and to connect with us on social media.
DATA FOR THE METRO AREAS ARE ATTACHED. TABLES AND GRAPHS REFLECTING LABOR MARKET DATA ARE AVAILABLE AT https://dol.georgia.gov/current-labor-force-data-and-graphs
NEWS MEDIA NEEDING ADDITIONAL INFORMATION MAY CALL (404) 232-3685.
THERE WILL BE NO AUDIO OR VIDEO RECORDINGS THIS MONTH.
About Post Author
