Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said Thursday that Augusta saw its initial claims for unemployment drop over-the-month and over-the-year.

"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 Augusta, the unemployment rate decreased in May by 0.2 percentage points, reaching at 3.7 percent. A year ago, the rate was 8.7 percent.

The labor force decreased in Augusta by 2,343 and ended the month with 269,509. That number is up 6,383 when compared to May of 2020.

Augusta finished the month with 259,595 employed residents.  That number decreased by 1,708 over the month and is up by 19,255 when compared to the same time a year ago.

Augusta ended May with 237,100 jobs. That number decreased by 600 from April to May and increased by 13,500 when compared to this time last year.

The number of unemployment claims went down by 20 percent in May. When compared to last May, claims were down by about 84 percent.

Employ Georgia, the GDOL’s online job listing service at employgeorgia.com showed about 8,535 active job postings in metro Augusta for May.

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