Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said Thursday that Augusta’s unemployment rate remained unchanged in the month of May.
 
Most other indicators were down for the month with labor force, number of employed residents, and jobs all off in May for the seven-county metropolitan statistical area.
 
“Georgia’s employment numbers remain strong,” Butler said. “Across the state, the unemployment rate either remained steady or dropped.”
 
The May unemployment rate was unchanged from the previous month, remaining at 3.6 percent. The rate was 4.7 percent one year ago.  
 
The number of employed residents fell in May. Augusta lost 2,965 employed residents. At 262,292 total employed residents, Augusta is up by 10,315 for the year.
 
Augusta lost 2,600 jobs for the month, with total jobs settling at 243,300. Despite this month’s decrease, Augusta remains up 8,200 jobs for the year.
 
The labor force was down 3,157 for the month to 272,010 but remaining up by 7,720 for the year.
 
Initial claims for unemployment grew by about 22 percent for the month but are down by about 4 percent for the year.
 
The seven-county MSA includes the counties of Burke, Columbia, Lincoln, McDuffie, Richmond and Aiken and Edgefield in South Carolina.