Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said Thursday that Columbus added to its labor force during June.
 
According to preliminary data, Columbus saw fewer initial unemployment claims filed over the month and over the year across the five-county metropolitan statistical area (MSA).
 
“June was a very strong month for Georgia,” Butler said. “A number of local communities set records as the state added more than 20,000 jobs. Plus, we continued to add to our labor force and see the number of unemployment claims fall. Our local communities continue to prosper.”
 
Nationally, the unemployment rate inched up 0.1 percent points in June to reach 3.7 percent. Georgia’s rate dropped 0.1 percentage points to settle at 3.7 percent.
 
In Columbus, the unemployment rate increased 0.5 percentage points in June, reaching 4.5 percent. A year ago, the rate was 5.1 percent.
 
Columbus ended June with 123,000 jobs. That’s a decrease of 100 jobs over the month and a decrease of 400 jobs when compared to the same time a year ago.
 
The labor force increased in June by 295. The total was 124,457. That number has gone down by 1,767 when compared to June of 2018.
 
Columbus ended June with 118,803 employed residents.  That number decreased by 334 over the month and decreased by 958 when compared to the same time a year ago.
 
The number of unemployment claims went down by about 27 percent in June. When compared to last June, claims were down by about 26 percent.
 
The five-county MSA includes the Georgia counties of Chattahoochee, Harris, Marion and Muscogee and Russell in Alabama.