We’ve seen some ugly numbers in the employment data for Georgia over the last few years. The latest stats aren’t exactly glowing, but they do show some real improvement in the economy. For February, the state saw a year-over-year decline of almost 16% in the number of initial claims for unemployment insurance. The Savannah metro area saw a decline of almost 21%. You can look at the raw data here.
According to the Georgia Dept. of Labor, the state has added 13,400 jobs in the past year. while that’s nowhere near enough to keep pace with population growth, it’s a positive trend.
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is 10.2%. That is a bit better than last February but not really a notable improvement. That number will remain high until we see more significant job growth.