Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said Thursday that Heart of Georgia saw an over-the-month and over-the-year decrease in its initial claims in May.
The region encompasses Appling, Bleckley, Candler, Dodge, Emanuel, Evans, Jeff Davis, Johnson, Laurens, Montgomery, Tattnall, Telfair, Toombs, Treutlen, Wayne, Wheeler, and Wilcox counties.
“This is a step in the right direction, but we need to continue to get Georgians back to work,” said Commissioner of Labor Mark Butler. “Increasing the amount of people in our labor force is critical for us to continue to improve.”
In Heart of Georgia, the unemployment rate increased by 0.1 percentage points, reaching 4 percent. A year ago, the rate was 7 percent.
The labor force increased in May by 159. The May total was 118,604. That number is up by 1,460 from the total from May 2020.
Heart of Georgia ended May with 113,858 employed residents. The number increased by 81 in May and was up 4,909 as compared to last year.
Initial claims for unemployment decreased by 7 percent in May. When compared to last May, claims were down by about 85 percent.
The GDOL’s online job listing service at employgeorgia.com showed 1,848 active job postings in Heart of Georgia for May.
