Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said Thursday that the Central Savannah River region added more employed residents in January.

Preliminary numbers show the 13-county region posted monthly and annual gains for labor force in January.

In the CSR region, the unemployment rate increased in January to 4.2 percent, a rise of 0.8 percentage points. A year ago, the rate was 5.2 percent.   

The labor force increased in January by 1,983. The January total was 211,114. That number is up by 487 from the total from January 2018.

Central Savannah River ended January with 202,265 employed residents.  The number increased by 174 in January and was up 2,686 as compared to last year.

The number of unemployment claims increased in January by about 45 percent. When compared to last January, claims were up by about 4 percent.