Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said Thursday that the River Valley region saw fewer new unemployment claims filed in June.  

The 16-county region also posted monthly gains in labor force, preliminary numbers show.

“Georgia’s been in an extended growth cycle,” said Butler. “In June, our state and local communities added jobs and employed more people.”

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 the region, the unemployment rate rose in June by 0.5 percentage points, settling at 4.9 percent. A year ago, the rate was 5.3 percent.

The labor force increased in June by three. The June total was 146,769. That number is down by 3,012 from the total from June 2018.

River Valley ended June with 139,553 employed residents.  The number decreased by 711 in June and went down by 2,279 as compared to last June.

The number of unemployment claims decreased in June by about 26 percent. When compared to last June, claims were down by about 24 percent.