Northwest Georgia Unemployment Rate Drops in July

Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said Thursday that Northwest Georgia’s unemployment rate decreased in July.

Additionally, Northwest Georgia saw monthly increases in labor force and employment in 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 Northwest Georgia, the unemployment rate decreased in July to 6.5 percent, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point. A year ago, the rate was 3.9 percent.

The labor force increased in July by 5,694. The July total was 411,913. That number is down by 10,399 from the total from July 2019.

Northwest Georgia ended July with 385,228 employed residents.  The number increased by 5,744 in July and was down 20,742 as compared to last year.

Initial claims for unemployment decreased by 15 percent in July. When compared to last July, claims were up by about 968 percent.

Employ Georgia, the GDOL’s online job listing service at employgeorgia.com showed 4,621 active job postings in Northwest Georgia for July.