Forsyth County posts its lowest unemployment rate this century

Man heading to work as unemployment numbers at record low(Photo/Getty Images)

(Forsyth County, GA) Georgia’s unemployment rates remain at its all-time low set this March, but these rates are even lower in Forsyth County.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Georgia’s unemployment rate plateaued through April at the record 3.1% rate set in March. This is lower than the United States’ overall unemployment rate of 3.6% for the month.

Georgia’s Labor Market Explorer tool shows a continuing downward trend for these rates on both the state and national scale over the past year as economies bounce back from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Georgia’s unemployment rate for all of 2019 was 3.6% compared to the national average of 3.7%, and these numbers ballooned to 6.5% and 8.1% through 2020. Both the state and national numbers trended back toward normalcy with Georgia’s rate reaching 3.9% compared to 5.3% for the U.S.

These statistics for metropolitan Atlanta’s fastest-growing county are even lower. Forsyth County’s unemployment rate rose to 4.5% in 2020, dropped to 2.5% in 2021, and has lowered further to 1.7% as of April 30, 2022. This is the lowest rate reported for the county since it was 1.5% in December of 1999.

Forsyth County Unemployment Rates(Graph/U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)

Forsyth County’s overall labor force continues to grow as well. The Labor Market Explorer tool also showed the county’s yearly civilian labor force estimate shows a labor force of approximately 127,000 people in 2021. So far through 2022, this number has grown to nearly 131,000 marking an increase of over 3,000.

Forsyth’s labor force is split among various industries. According to the Georgia Department of Labor, 19.1% of Forsyth County workforce is goods-producing employees, such as construction workers and manufacturers. Service-providing workers, such as healthcare workers and food service employees, make up 69.7%.

The private sector comprises 89.3% of the county’s labor force with the remaining 10.7% attributed to government jobs. This is slightly different than Georgia overall which employs 85.8% in the private sector versus 14.2% in government.

Labor market statistics are updated on an annual and monthly basis by the Georgia Department of Labor and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.