Coastal Georgia’s Initial Unemployment Claims Continue to Drop in May

Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said Thursday that Coastal Georgia saw an over-the-month and over-the-year decrease in its initial claims in May.

“This is a step in the right direction, but we need to continue to get Georgians back to work,” said Commissioner of Labor Mark Butler. “Increasing the amount of people in our labor force is critical for us to continue to improve.”

In Coastal Georgia, the unemployment rate increased by 0.1 percentage points, reaching 3.9 percent. A year ago, the rate was 10 percent.

The labor force decreased in May by 1,337. The May total was 342,979. That number is up by 14,462 from the total from May 2020.

Coastal Georgia ended May with 329,677 employed residents.  The number decreased by 1,428 in May and was up 34,105 as compared to last year.

Initial claims for unemployment decreased by 17 percent in May. When compared to last May, claims were down by about 89 percent.

The GDOL’s online job listing service at employgeorgia.com showed 11,792 active job postings in Coastal Georgia for May.

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