Georgia tax collections improved again in August, the second consecutive strong monthly showing for an economy battered earlier this year by the COVID-19 pandemic recession.

The state announced Thursday that collections were up 7.7 %, or $134 million over August of 2019 and follow a jump in July numbers.

The positive report comes four months into the reopening of Georgia’s economy following the coronavirus shutdown. Gov. Brian Kemp’s office credited the state’s early re-opening with better-than-expected revenue collections from April through June 30, the end of the fiscal year.

Collections were down $90 million during fiscal 2020, but some experts were predicting a much bigger decline as hundreds of thousands of Georgians were thrown out of work and businesses were shuttered at the start of the pandemic.

On Wednesday, Kemp said new economic development job numbers showed strong growth in August. Despite COVID-19, job creation was 1.5 times higher than in July and August of last year, the state said.

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