The Georgia Department of Labor (GDOL) announced Thursday that Georgia’s unemployment rate for December 2025 was 3.6%, up slightly from a revised 3.5% in November. GDOL said Georgia’s rate remained 0.8 percentage point below the national unemployment rate, and matched the state’s rate from one year ago.

“In December, Georgia continued to add jobs for a second straight month, with the unemployment rate remaining well below the national average,” said Georgia Labor Commissioner Bárbara Rivera Holmes, adding the agency is focused on strengthening job-creating sectors and preparing workers for in-demand careers.

Georgia added 5,000 jobs over the month, bringing total employment to 4,991,700, and jobs were up 7,400 over the past 12 months. Two sectors hit all-time highs in December: private education and health services (737,500) and other services (176,600).

The biggest monthly job gains were in administrative and support services (+4,500) and health care and social assistance (+2,000), while losses were led by retail trade (-2,000) and accommodation and food services (-1,400). Over the year, the strongest growth was in health care and social assistance (+19,300) and administrative and support services (+13,000), while the largest declines were in transportation, warehousing, and utilities (-16,900) and federal government (-12,100).

Georgia’s labor force rose to 5,412,470 in December, and employment increased to an all-time high of 5,219,749. Unemployment rose to 192,721 for the month, but was down 3,782 compared with a year ago. Initial claims increased to 26,651 in December, though they were down 4,395 over the year.