Irma Caused Georgia’s Job Numbers to Fall

State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said yesterday that Hurricane Irma caused Georgia’s job numbers to fall and unemployment claims to rise in September.

Butler noted that the state lost about 500 jobs for the month.

Similarly, Georgia also saw nearly 25,000 unemployment claims filed in September.

That was a modest increase from the prior month and from September 2016.

A 240 percent jump for the month in the coastal region drove the statewide numbers up slightly, the commissioner said.  

“Even though the hurricane did have a negative effect on Georgia’s job and unemployment claims numbers, we still had a record month for employment and persons entering the workforce,” Butler said. “This shows the strength of Georgia’s economy and job market.”

Butler noted that even though September’s numbers were impacted by Hurricane Irma those changes were not enough to significantly affect the state’s strong performance over the past 12 months.

Georgia added more than 84,000 new jobs during that time, Butler said.

Butler added that employment among the state’s residents was up by 35,649 from August.

That’s the largest single-month gain in at least 40 years. 

The labor force, which is the number of residents employed and those unemployed but actively looking for work, rose by 25,761, as the number of unemployed declined by 9,888.  

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