ATLANTA — New reports show that the number of unemployed Georgians is down to lows that have not been seen since before the pandemic.
Georgia’s Labor Commissioner Mark Butler says employers are making major increases in salaries in an effort to attract workers.
Before the pandemic hit, Georgia was at a record low for unemployment. Nearly a year and a half later, we are once again nearing those numbers.
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Butler says the economy now is vastly different than it was before the pandemic.
A group of home healthcare company owners and employers asked Butler Friday to come meet with them because they don’t have enough employees.
“We are short-handed. All the providers in the room up there, that is our biggest challenge right now,” said David Lamb with the Home Care Association of America.
After reaching 12.5% unemployment last year, the current rate is nearing all-time lows of early 2020.
“Obviously, it is getting you back to what looks like normalcy but we still have a lot of holes to fill. We have a lot of industries that are still struggling to find workers,” Butler told Channel 2 investigative reporter Justin Gray.
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The growing Georgia economy had 21,000 more people employed in July than the month before, decreasing the unemployment rate from 4% down to 3.7%.
Home healthcare owners say they are having trouble keeping up because their salaries are based on reimbursement rates from the state and insurance companies.
“We cant put a sign on the door that says we cant help you today because we don’t have staff. When we do, they don’t have help with activities of daily living,” Lamb said.
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Butler told employers Friday that if they cannot increase their pay, they have no chance of hiring because the number of jobs available is increasing faster than the number of employed Georgians.
The number of jobs in Georgia was up nearly 84,000 in the last two months.
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