Mark Butler, Georgia’s Labor Commissioner, has reported that the number of initial unemployment claims has reached an all-time high. March 2020 labor statistics also showed that the over-the-month increase for the unemployment rate was the largest on record.
The state’s unemployment rate stood at 4.2 percent last month, according to the Georgia Department of Labor. That marks an increase from 3.1 percent in February and from 3.7 percent in March 2019.
First-time unemployment claims rose by 1,292 percent over the month and by 1,567 percent over the year.
The GDOL has processed over 861,000 claims since March 14th – 10 percent of Georgia’s population.