Valdosta’s Unemployment Rate Drops in May

Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said Thursday that Valdosta’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 Valdosta, the unemployment rate decreased 2.1 percentage points in May, reaching 7.7 percent. A year ago, the rate was 3.2 percent.

Valdosta ended May with 53,400 jobs. That number increased by 1,300 from April to May but was down by 3,000 when compared to this time last year.

The labor force increased in May by 1,178 and ended the month with 61,702. That number is down 1,174 when compared to May of 2019.

Valdosta finished the month with 56,926 employed residents.  That number increased by 2,349 over the month but is down by 4,439 when compared to the same time a year ago.

The number of unemployment claims went down by 35 percent in May to 9,546. When compared to last May, claims were up by about 5,005 percent.

Employ Georgia, the GDOL’s online job listing service at employgeorgia.com showed about 414 active job postings in metro Valdosta for May.