General

Initial Unemployment Claims

Preliminary initial unemployment claims for the week ended October 2nd were 43,874, which is up 348 claims, or +0.8%, from the revised initial unemployment claims number of 43,526 for the previous week, ending September 25h.

This is the second uptick in initial claims since May 9th, a reversal of a steadily declining pattern. Before that, claims were steadily declining since May.

The highest weekly claims were filed the week ended April 4th, at 390,130. Just three weeks earlier, claims were at 5,447 for the week ended March 14th.

Insured Unemployment

Preliminary insured unemployment for the week ended October 2nd was at 445,380. This is down 33,352 from the previous week’s revised insured unemployment number of 478,732 for the week ended September 25th, a 7% decrease.

Insured unemployment is also referred to as continued claims, which occur when an individual has already previously filed an initial claim, experienced another week of unemployment, and is now filing a continued claim to claim benefits for that week of unemployment.

By Industry

Most Improved Industries this Week

The industries in Georgia are said to improving when they see declines in initial unemployment claims since last week. The following are the most improved since last week:

• Construction: 306 less new claims, -21% from last week
• Transportation and Warehousing: -823 less new claims, -31% from last week
• Information: -216 less new claims, -34% from last week

Most Declining Industries this Week

The industries with the largest increases in weekly initial unemployment claims are said to be declining. The following are the most declined since last week:

• Retail Trade: 1,047 more new claims, 31% increase since last week
• Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services: 415 more new claims, 46% increase since last week