Georgia's unemployment rate ties historic low at 3.4%

Georgia's unemployment rate in October is tying a historic low at 3.4%.

State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said Friday that the jobless rate fell from 3.5% in September. October's number ties the mark set in December 2000, the lowest since current data began in 1976.

The number of people looking for jobs and reporting having a job both rose. The number of unemployed people in Georgia fell slightly from September to about 177,000.

The number of Georgians on payrolls - many economists' top labor market indicator - rose slightly in October to 4.64 million, also a record. Payrolls are more than 72,000 above October 2018's 4.59 million.

The figures are adjusted to cancel out seasonal changes.

October's nationwide unemployment rate rose to 3.6 percent from 3.5 percent in September.