Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said Thursday that Columbus saw its initial claims for unemployment drop over-the-month and over-the-year.

"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 Columbus, the unemployment rate remained unchanged in May, staying at 4.2 percent. A year ago, the rate was 9.4 percent.

The labor force decreased in Columbus by 787 and ended the month with 122,067. That number is down 532 when compared to May of 2020.

Columbus finished the month with 116,916 employed residents.  That number decreased by 759 over the month and is up by 5,867 when compared to the same time a year ago.

Columbus ended May with 117,300 jobs. That number increased by 300 from April to May and increased by 4,300 when compared to this time last year.

The number of unemployment claims went down by 14 percent in May. When compared to last May, claims were down by about 85 percent.

Employ Georgia, the GDOL’s online job listing service at employgeorgia.com showed about 4,908 active job postings in metro Columbus for May.

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