The number of job openings in Georgia declined by 39,000 at the end of January even as the state’s unemployment rate hit a record low 3.2%, according to new data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Georgia's job openings rate dropped from 8.2 in December to 7.5 in January. Georgia’s rate remained above the national average, which declined from 7.1 in December to 7.0 in January. In January 2021, the state recorded a job openings rate of 6.5. The one-month decline in the number of openings was the largest recorded for Georgia since March 2020, when coronavirus-related cutbacks by employers hit the state’s workforce.
In Jaanuary, the number of hires and separations (including the number of people quitting their jobs) in the state were little changed over the month. The hires rate in the state stood at 5.5, and the total separations rate was 5.3. Within total separations, the quits rate remained 3.7, while the layoffs and discharges rate stood at 1.0.
In January, the state’s unemployment rate was 3.2%, the lowest
since BLS began its current series in 1976. In January 2021, the state recorded
an unemployment rate of 4.8%. Since that time, the state’s labor force has
grown by 47,357 with the number of people employed rising by 128,308 and the
number of unemployed declining by 80,951.
Georgia’s employment-population ratio has risen over the
year from 59.0 to 59.8 but remains below its pre-Covid levels of 60+.
