ATLANTA – Georgia’s unemployment rate for January was 3.5%, holding steady from a revised 3.5% in December. January’s unemployment rate was 0.8 percentage point lower than the national unemployment rate. Georgia’s rate was 3.4% one year ago.
In January, jobs were up 1,200 over the month to 4,984,300 and were up 9,300 over the past 12 months. After three consecutive months of job losses from August to October 2025, Georgia has now added jobs for three months in a row.
The sectors reaching an all-time high for jobs in January 2026 were construction, 237,500; and health care and social assistance, 636,000.
In January, the sectors with the most over-the-month job gains included retail trade, 2,200; health care and social assistance, 2,100; construction, 1,300; transportation, warehousing, and utilities, 1,200; and accommodation and food services, 800. Jobs were down over the month in administrative and support services, 2,200; wholesale trade, 1,200; durable goods manufacturing, 900; federal government, 800; and private educational services, 600.
The sectors with the most job gains over the past year included health care and social assistance, 22,200; construction, 5,700; local government, 4,400; state government, 1,300; and three industries all gaining 900 each: arts, entertainment, and recreation; real estate and rental and leasing; and accommodation and food services. Jobs were down over-the-year in federal government, 12,500; wholesale trade, 4,100; information, 4,000; transportation, warehousing, and utilities, 2,300; and retail trade, 1,400.
Georgia’s labor force increased by 4,210 to 5,445,612 in January, an all-time high, and rose by 32,092 over the past year.
Employment rose by 1,827 to 5,252,878, an all-time high, and increased by 23,810 over the past 12 months.
Unemployment rose by 2,383 to 192,734 in January and was up 8,282 over the past year.