Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said Thursday that Southern Georgia’s labor force increased in July. 

Additionally, Southern Georgia saw a monthly increase in employment and a monthly decrease in initial claims for July.

“As the state continues to reopen, we are going to see wild fluctuations up and down of the unemployment rate across the state,” said Commissioner of Labor Mark Butler.  “The numbers that we really need to focus on are the most important ones, such as increases in workforce and employment which we are continuing to see in almost all regions and counties.” 

In Southern Georgia, the unemployment rate increased in July to 6.4 percent, an increase of 0.5 percentage points. A year ago, the rate was 4.2 percent. 

The labor force increased in July by 868. The July total was 172,647. That number is down by 5,288 from the total from July 2019. 

Southern Georgia ended July with 161,627 employed residents.  The number increased by ten in July but was down 8,833 as compared to last year. 

Initial claims for unemployment decreased by 14 percent in July. When compared to last July, claims were up by about 1,323 percent. 

Employ Georgia, the GDOL’s online job listing service at employgeorgia.com showed 1,456 active job postings in Southern Georgia for July.