Georgia employment sets records as payroll jobs edge down

Georgia reported record totals for its labor force and employed residents in September, even as the separate count of nonfarm payroll jobs slipped by 500 from August. The Georgia Department of Labor said its preliminary estimates showed 5,504,015 people in the labor force and 5,325,131 Georgia residents employed.

The department said September was the ninth consecutive month in which both measures set records. Compared with September 2025, the labor force was up 73,187 and resident employment was up 80,830. Payroll employment, an employer-based measure, was 200 jobs below its year-earlier level.

The measures describe different parts of the labor market: resident employment counts employed people who live in Georgia, while payroll jobs count positions reported by employers. The record resident-employment figure therefore does not mean the number of jobs on employer payrolls also increased.

Industry changes varied by month and year

Local government recorded the largest monthly gain among the sectors highlighted by GDOL, adding 3,300 jobs. Professional and technical services added 1,600. Private education services lost 1,600 jobs, while health care and social assistance lost 1,400.

The year-over-year figures showed a different pattern in some industries. Health care and social assistance was up 18,900 jobs from September 2025, and durable goods manufacturing was up 5,100. Federal government employment was down 8,800, professional and technical services was down 8,600, and construction was down 4,900.

That contrast was especially visible in professional and technical services, which gained jobs over the month but remained below its year-earlier level. Health care and social assistance showed the reverse comparison: a monthly decline alongside a substantial annual gain.

Claims fell as unemployment rose from August

Georgia recorded 15,874 initial unemployment claims in September, 953 fewer than in August and 3,140 fewer than a year earlier. GDOL described the figure as the lowest monthly total since April 1974, when 15,697 claims were filed. Initial claims count new applications for unemployment benefits; they are distinct from the number of unemployed residents.

The department counted 178,884 unemployed residents, an increase of 3,400 from August but a decrease of 7,643 from September 2025. The unemployment rate was 3.3%, slightly above August and 0.1 percentage point below its year-earlier rate. Taken together, the reported measures show that resident employment and the labor force increased while payroll jobs edged down, and that month-to-month changes differed across industries.

GDOL identifies its monthly estimates as preliminary. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics scheduled its September state employment and unemployment release for October 20, 2026. GDOL’s release schedule lists November 19 for the state data covering October.