Georgia’s unemployment rate dropped another 0.2 percentage points to reach 4.3% in April, according to numbers released on May 21. 

The state Department of Labor said 221,140 Georgians were looking for work, while the state’s EmployGeorgia website showed 239,000 job listings.

“These numbers back up what our small business members are saying, that job openings outnumber job applicants,” NFIB State Director Nathan Humphrey said. “The numbers also show why it was necessary for Governor Kemp to end pandemic-related federal supplemental unemployment assistance beginning June 29.”

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“The federal assistance was essential early in the pandemic when businesses were scaling back or closing and hundreds of thousands of people lost their jobs through no fault of their own,” Humphrey said. “One year later, the economy is recovering, but a lot of businesses are still operating at reduced capacity — not because of COVID-19 restrictions but because they can’t find enough people to work.

“Hopefully, Governor Kemp’s decision will encourage more people to reenter the workforce and help businesses to get back to normal.”