The National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA) released their bi-annual State of the Workforce Report this week, looking back at the performance of workforce agencies over the last year as Covid-related unemployment exploded.
The report gives a broader picture of the unemployment situation over the last year, filling in some additional numbers to understand the scope of the situation. More than a billion unemployment claims were processed during this period, and half-a-trillion dollars in unemployment benefits paid out across state and federal programs.
In Georgia, nearly 21 million weeks of unemployment were claimed in 2020 and almost $17 billion in benefits paid out.
“The NASWA report shows just how much volume Georgia has seen this past year when compared with other states,” said Georgia Department of Labor (GDOL) Commissioner Mark Butler. “As a leader in the nation in the number of claims processed and the disbursement of UI funds, it was also rewarding to share a few of the creative solutions GDOL devised to better serve Georgians during this historic time.”
Some of those creative solutions include the Rapid Response program for reemployment that was quickly transitioned to a virtual service during the pandemic, the department’s partnership with the Georgia Department of Education and the creation of instructional videos to assist job seekers looking for work. The now robust employgeorgia.com currently hosts more than 180,000 jobs for application. In addition to a jobs listings site, GDOL also offer resources for building a resume, information for filing claims and tips for finding a job.
Since the beginning of the pandemic in March, GDOL has processed 4,392,859 claims, more than the last nine years prior to the pandemic when they processed right around 4 million. Understandably, the industries filing the most claims include Accommodation and Food Services, Administrative and Support Services, Health Care and Social Assistance, Manufacturing and Retail Trade. Things continue to improve though, as the monthly jobs number doubled from November to December.
“Georgia is one of the leading states in the country in job creation,” said Butler. “We created 44,700 jobs in December 2020, only being outdone by Texas who has the second highest population in the country. These efforts can be contributed to opening government back up sooner than other states, our various reemployment programs, and making decisive and calculated decisions to allow hard-working Georgians get back to their jobs.”
