Northeast Georgia set a record high for employment during the month of May. State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler’s office released the numbers today. Butler says the area also saw an increase in the size of the labor force and a decrease in the unemployment rate-both positive indicators.
“We saw the unemployment rate fall by two-tenths a point bringing that rate down to 3.3 percent,” according to Butler.
The rate is down from 4.3 percent a year agon.
“When we take a look at the numbers behind that rate decrease, we see some very good news, first of all we’re continuing to see individuals attracted by the job market in Northeast Georgia and that’s indicated by the fact that we saw an increase in the labor force. The labor force is the number of individuals either working or looking for work.”
This is the second lowest unemployment rate of all 12 regions in the state. The rates vary from a low of 2.9 percent in the Georgia Mountains to 4.5 percent in the River Valley region.
The number of employed residents in the region grew to 298,144-an all-time high.
“The number of individuals employed in Northeast Georgia increased by almost 900 individuals going from April to May, so that’s a very good over-the-month increase.”
The Northeast Georgia region includes Barrow, Clarke, Elbert, Greene, Jackson, Jasper, Madison, Morgan, Newton, Oconee, Oglethorpe, and Walton counties.
Employ Georgia, the GDOL’s online job listing service at employgeorgia.com showed 2,703 active job postings in the Northeast Georgia region for May.
