Peach Tree Times

Georgia’s unemployment rates have dropped to a rate of 3.5%, just under the pre-pandemic level of 3.6%, according to Now Habersham. 

Though the state’s labor force remains lower than it was before the spread of the virus was declared, it has successfully recovered 83% of the jobs lost amid the pandemic, Now Habersham reported. 

“This milestone is a testament to the resiliency of Georgia's job creators and our efforts to protect both lives and livelihoods over the last eighteen months,” Gov. Brian P. Kemp said in a press release.

According to Now Habersham, the number of jobs recorded across the state decreased by 5,000 in August alone, and though 71,000 additional jobs have been created, the volume of work available overall is still lower than pre-pandemic levels. This too, however, should follow the improvement in the unemployment rate and jobs regained, Now Habersham said.

Even with record unemployment rates and continued increases in employment, the state is having problems attracting people to the workforce to fill vacant jobs, the Department of Labor (DOL) said in a press release. The labor force is down 31,000 from the workforce in March 2020 and the number of employed remains down 26,000 from pre-pandemic levels, the DOL said.

“Job growth will become stagnant if we don’t fill the hundreds of thousands of jobs that we currently have open right now," Mark Butler, commissioner for the DOL, said in the release.

In an effort to determine why job positions aren’t being filled faster, the DOL  has gathered information relating to the way employers are attempting to attract and retain employees. Retention strategies include hiring incentive programs and "workplace considerations," among others, the DOL said.

"We are hearing from employers who are raising salaries and enhancing benefits packages and are still not able to fill these jobs," Butler said. "Based on what we are seeing, it may take months, if not years, for the job market to return to some type of normalcy."