Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said Thursday that the state set records in October for total jobs and employed residents.

Butler proclaimed October another great month in a long string of often record-setting months. He noted that Georgia’s unemployment rate also fell once again.    

For the year, all indicators are trending in the right direction.

“We set records again this month,” the commissioner said. “Georgia continues to grow stronger and better. We attract great jobs and more and more of them get filled. I don’t see this slowing down any time soon.” 

The October rate, at 3.6 percent, slipped just below the national rate of 3.7 percent.  Georgia’s rate was 4.5 percent a year ago.

In October, Georgia added another 2,400 jobs to push the state’s total number to 4.57 million – a record. Over the past year, Georgia added 93,600 new jobs, or nearly 8,000 a month.

The number of employed residents also swelled to a new record high.

Georgia ended October with just under 5 million employed residents. The state added 375 to the employment rolls for the month. By comparison, the state added about 8,500 folks to the employment rolls on an average month over the past year. 

“The record in employed residents shows that Georgia is producing the right kind of jobs,” Butler said. “Creating jobs is great. But it’s better when we produce good jobs that get filled. People are getting these jobs in record numbers.” 

Annual job gains were up more than 20,000 in two different categories:

• Construction – 21,600

• Trade, transportation, utilities – 21,400. 

Another three added more than 10,000 over the past 12 months:

• Professional, business services – 18,100

• Education, health services – 17,600

• Leisure, hospitality – 11,000.

“Construction gains,” Butler said, “are proof of Georgia’s booming economy as builders are pushing to meet the demand for more housing, office and retail space.”

For the month, professional and business services surged by 5,300. Construction was close behind with another 2,500 added.

Georgia’s labor force fell slightly in October, declining by about 3,500 to end the month at 5.2 million. Over the past 12 months, Georgia added 57,855 people to its workforce, an average of nearly 4,900 a month. 

Unemployment claims were up in October by 49 percent. When compared to last October, they were up less than 1 percent.    

EmployGeorgia, the department’s job-listing website, saw nearly 77,000 jobs listed in October, an increase of 15 percent.