The Georgia Department of Labor announced Thursday that Georgia’s unemployment rate dropped 0.3 percentage points to reach 4.5 percent in March while the state saw a significant increase in the number of jobs.

Jobs in March increased by 21,800, reaching a total of 4,486,000. That number is down 151,000 compared to this same time last year. The job total listed online at EmployGeorgia is showing 223,000 job listings— triple the amount of the 70,000 listings in March of 2020.

In March, the number of employed Georgians was up 29,854 to reach a total of 4,929,108, and the number of employed was up by 564,000 since April. Georgia’s labor force in March saw an increase of 15,762, reaching a total of 5,161,098.

“March is yet another month where we have seen job growth throughout the state,” said Labor Commissioner Mark Butler. “EmployGeorgia is showing triple the amount of job listings that we were seeing at the start of pandemic. Georgia has gained a vast majority of the jobs that were lost since March of last year, and we continue to remain strong in economic growth and business development.”