Metro ATL's Unemployment Rate Drops In July

GEORGIA — Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said Thursday that Atlanta’s unemployment rate decreased in July.

Additionally, Atlanta saw monthly increases in labor force, employment, and jobs in July.

“As the state continues to reopen, we are going to see wild fluctuations up and down of the unemployment rate across the state,” Butler said. “The numbers that we really need to focus on are the most important ones, such as increases in workforce and employment which we are continuing to see in all MSAs.”

In Atlanta, the unemployment rate decreased 0.1 percentage point in July, reaching 8.5 percent. A year ago, the rate was 3.6 percent.

Atlanta ended July with 2,703,200. jobs. That number increased by 15,300 from June to July but was down by 135,000 when compared to this time last year.

The labor force increased in July by 61,580 and ended the month with 3,053,798. That number is down 52,071 when compared to July 2019.

Atlanta finished the month with 2,793,097 employed residents. That number increased by 58,694 over the month but is down by 201,550 when compared to the same time a year ago.

The number of unemployment claims went down by 20 percent in July. When compared to last July, claims were up by about 2,376 percent.

Employ Georgia, the GDOL’s online job listing service at employgeorgia.com showed about 63,851 active job postings in metro Atlanta for July.

Visit dol.georgia.gov to learn more about career opportunities, Employ Georgia and other GDOL services for job seekers and employers.