Georgia continues to rank sixth in the nation and third in the Southeast in over-the-year job creation. The state gained 80,000 non-seasonally-adjusted jobs between September 2013 and September 2014, for a growth rate of 2.0 percent. The comparable national job growth rate for the same period was also 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 4,129,200 in September, up from 4,049,200 in September 2013, the second largest September-to-September job growth in Georgia since 2005.

“Georgia employers have added jobs at a pace strong enough to bring us from ranking 45th to sixth in the nation for over-the-year job creation since the end of the Great Recession,” said State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler. “Job growth is one of the better economic barometers for measuring the health of a state’s economy, and by that measure Georgia is doing well.”

When the Great Recession ended in June 2009, Georgia ranked 45th nationally for over-the-year job creation. By October 2010, Georgia had rebounded and moved into the top 20 states. In October 2012, Georgia broke into the top 10 states, where it has remained, often ranked fifth or sixth.  

September job growth continued across the board as follows: administrative and support services, 14,200; accommodations and food services, 11,300; professional, scientific and technical services, 9,300; transportation and warehousing, 7,800; retail trade, 6,800; durable goods manufacturing, 6,400; health care and social assistance, 5,600; wholesale trade, 4,200; construction of buildings, 3,400; arts, entertainment, and recreation, 3,000; finance and insurance, 2,700; non-durable goods manufacturing, 2,100; specialty trade contractors, 2,000; heavy and civil engineering construction, 1,900; and local government, 1,800. 

The top 10 states and their non-seasonally-adjusted job growth over-the-year include: Texas, 410,900 (3.7%); California, 312,400 (2.1%); Florida, 210,500 (2.8%); New York, 116,900 (1.3%); and North Carolina, 88,600 (2.2%); Georgia, 80,000 (2.0%): Colorado, 65,900 (2.7%); Massachusetts, 64,500 (1.9%); Washington, 63,000 (2.1%); and Tennessee, 61,100 (2.2%)