State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said today that Georgia moved up to fifth in the nation and second in the Southeast in over-the-year job creation in October, compared to sixth and third respectively in September. The state gained 96,000 non-seasonally-adjusted jobs between October 2013 and October 2014, for a growth rate of 2.4 percent. The comparable national job growth rate for the same period was 2.0 percent.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) recently released the state rankings.
The number of jobs in Georgia totaled 4,166,400 in October, up from 4,070,400 in October 2013, the largest October-to-October job growth in Georgia since 2005.
All of the over-the-year growth came in the private sector.
October job growth continued across the board with over-the-year job gains in professional and business services, 32,200; trade, transportation and warehousing, 26,400; leisure and hospitality, 14,900; manufacturing and construction, 7,400 each; education and health services, 5,400; information services, 2,200; and financial services, 1,400. Government lost 600.
The top 10 states and their non-seasonally-adjusted job growth over-the-year include: Texas, 436,700 (3.9%); California, 342,700 (2.2%); Florida, 209,600 (2.7%); New York, 106,500 (1.2%); Georgia, 96,000 (2.4%): North Carolina, 93,300 (2.3%); Washington, 73,900 (2.4%); Arizona, 66,400 (2.6%); Tennessee, 59,500 (2.1%); and Colorado, 58,100 (2.4%).
Georgia has been in the top 10 states for job creation every month since October 2012.