Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said Thursday that Augusta recorded a March unemployment rate of 3.6 percent, down two-tenths of a percent over the month. A year ago, the rate was 4.3 percent.

“Across Georgia, we continue to see increases in the labor force, the number of employed, and the number of jobs,” said Commissioner Mark Butler. “With Georgia having the lowest unemployment rate of the top ten most populated states, we are pleased to see Georgians enter the workforce filling the many open positions available in all of our regions and counties.”

The labor force increased in Augusta by 975 and ended the month with 268,427. That number is down 190 when compared to March of 2021.

Augusta finished the month with 258,807 employed residents. That number increased by 1,565 over the month and is up by 1,703 when compared to the same time a year ago.

Augusta ended March with 240,400 jobs. That number was up 1,000 from February to March and increased by 3,200 when compared to this time last year.

The number of unemployment claims went down by 11 percent in Augusta in March. When compared to last March, claims were down by about 85 percent.

Employ Georgia, the GDOL’s online job listing service at employgeorgia.com showed about 8,232 active job postings in Augusta for March.