MACON, Ga. — The lines at the unemployment office are getting shorter and shorter.
The state's unemployment rate has hit a new low, giving Georgia one of the nation's lowest numbers of people out of work.
Graphic design is Dhruv Patel's passion, and he gets to showcase it every day on the job.
"I absolutely love it. I enjoy this. Everybody around me can see how happy I am at this job," Patel said.
In September, he became a graphic designer for Central Georgia Technical College.
It took him a while to get there -- 7 months to be exact.
"That period was a little tough because I did have a little pressure from family or friends. It kind of felt like I was being set back from the goals that I wanted to accomplish at the time," Patel said.
He says the pandemic didn't make it any easier. So did Jordyn Riedmiller-Virgillio, who is also one of Central Georgia Tech's newest graphic designers.
"It was a long few months, and it's real stressful to look for jobs when you know that all of the places around are either closed or short-staffed because they can't afford to hire more people because of COVID and all of that stuff," Riedmiller-Virgillio said.
She says she finally felt relief -- 30 job applications later.
"I think I probably went home and bought some champagne that night. I was thrilled because, first of all, I didn't have to fill out another job application, which was probably the most exciting part because it got old really fast," Riedmiller- Virgillio said.
Patel and Riedmiller-Virgillio both say it feels good to have a job, and most Georgians can now relate to that.
According to the Georgia Department of Labor, the national average unemployment rate for December of 2021 was 3.9%, Georgia saw a rate of 2.6%. This is a new low.
"I don't know of anybody off of the top of my head who's been actively searching for a job and still can't find one recently within their field. That's nice." Riedmiller-Virgillio said.