Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said Thursday that Augusta’s unemployment rate decreased in May.  

Due to the effects of COVID-19, all MSA’s continue to see stinted yearly growth, yet monthly gains in nearly all major sectors are beginning to spike.   

“The fact that almost every single monthly indicator in May’s job market report was positive shows great promise to Georgia’s economy up ahead,” said Commissioner of Labor Mark Butler. “Seeing these monthly numbers begin to increase means that we are definitely heading back in the right direction.”   

In Augusta, the unemployment rate decreased 1.6 percentage points in May, reaching 8.8 percent. A year ago, the rate was 3.5 percent. 

Augusta ended May with 226,700 jobs. That number increased by 4,500 from April to May but was down by 16,700 when compared to this time last year.

The labor force increased in May by 3,528 and ended the month with 261,253. That number is down 6,050 when compared to May of 2019.  

Augusta finished the month with 238,324 employed residents.  That number increased by 7,370 over the month but is down by 19,683 when compared to the same time a year ago. 

The number of unemployment claims went down by 45 percent in May to 21,509. When compared to last May, claims were up by about 1,866 percent. 

Employ Georgia, the GDOL’s online job listing service at employgeorgia.com showed about 4,364 active job postings in metro Augusta for May.