Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said Thursday that Augusta’s unemployment rate spiked in April, breaking all previous all-time highs. 

Due to the effects of COVID-19, all MSA’s throughout the state saw a dramatic incline in initial claims along with every other major sector. 

 “Although we are seeing all-time high unemployment rates across a majority of the state, we are continuing to work with employers on effective strategies to get Georgians back to work in both a safe and economically efficient way,” said Butler. 

In Augusta, the unemployment rate increased 6.4 percentage points in April, reaching 10.6 percent. A year ago, the rate was 3.2 percent.

The number of unemployment claims went up by 325 percent in April, which directly correlated with the number of temporary and potentially permanent lay-offs associated with COVID-19. When compared to last April, claims were up by about 4,332 percent.

Augusta ended April with 222,000 jobs. That number decreased by 21,700 from March to April and was down by 24,000 when compared to this time last year.

The labor force decreased in April by 13,869 and ended the month with 256,877. That number is down 12,328 when compared to April of 2019.

Augusta finished the month with 229,770 employed residents.  That number decreased by 29,709 over the month and is down by 30,723 when compared to the same time a year ago.

Employ Georgia, the GDOL’s online job listing service at employgeorgia.com showed about 4,068 active job postings in metro Augusta for April.