Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said Thursday that Atlanta had a new unemployment rate of 2.3 percent in December, up one-tenth of a point from a revised 2.2 percent in November. Last year, the rate was 5.8 percent in December. Despite this, Atlanta saw claims decrease, jobs increase, all-time highs in the labor force, and the number of employed in the month of December.

“Job numbers are up across Georgia, and our focus in 2022 is encouraging people to enter the workforce to help businesses provide the goods and services necessary for Georgia’s economy to continue to grow,” said Commissioner Mark Butler.

The labor force increased in Atlanta by 11,978 and ended the month at an all-time high of 3,157,316. This number is up 6,888 since December 2020. Comparing December 2021 figures to pre-pandemic February 2020 figures, the labor force is up 1,000.

The number of employed was up 5,830 to 3,083,242, an all-time high, in December from November 2021. From December 2020 to December 2021, the number of employed was up 168,951. This number is up 30,000 from pre-pandemic February 2020 figures.

The number of unemployed is up 6,148 to 74,074 from November. From December 2020 to December 2021, the number of unemployed was down 104,295.

Atlanta ended December with 2,882,700 jobs. Jobs were up 18,600 (7%) over the month and up 141,100 (5.2%) over the year. Since April 2020, the 381,500 jobs lost during the pandemic have been gained back.           

The sectors with the most over-the-month job gains included Transportation and Warehousing, 5,000, Retail Trade, 4,400, Administrative and Support Services, 2,800, Wholesale Trade, 1,600, Accommodation and Food Services, 1,300, Non-Durable Goods Manufacturing, 1,200, Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services, 1,200, and Health Care and Social Assistance, 1,200.

The number of initial unemployment claims went down by 2 percent in Atlanta in December. When compared to last December, claims were down by about 86 percent.

Employ Georgia, the GDOL’s online job listing service at employgeorgia.com showed about 123,000 active job postings in metro Atlanta for December.