Georgia posted all-time highs last month in jobs and employment, while the unemployment rate remained at 3.6%, state Commissioner of Labor Mark Butler reported Thursday.

The Peach State added 20,800 jobs in August, pushing the total number of jobs to 4.64 million, up nearly 85,000 compared to August of last year. The number of employed Georgians rose for the third straight month, with a gain of 8,672 bringing the total number of employed in Georgia to 4.93 million.

“There’s been a lot of talk nationally about a slowdown,” Butler said. “I don’t see any evidence of that in Georgia. … Right now, Georgia is looking very strong.”

Georgia’s unemployment rate of 3.6% last month was down from 3.8% a year ago and slightly below the national average for August of 3.7%.

The two sectors that added the most jobs last month were professional/business services, which added 5,300 jobs, and leisure/hospitality, which added 4,000 jobs in August.

Each of four job sectors – education/health services, professional/business services, leisure/hospitality and construction – were up more than 10,000 jobs over August 2018.

In another positive sign for the economy, new claims for unemployment fell last month by 32% compared to July. Unemployment claims in August were down 10% from August of last year.

Article written by Dave Williams  – Staff Writer, Atlanta Business Chronicle. Read more here.