Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said Thursday that River Valley’s labor force increased in July.

Additionally, River Valley saw a monthly increase in employment and a monthly decrease in initial claims for 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 River Valley, the unemployment rate increased in July to 8.6 percent, an increase of 0.2 percentage points. A year ago, the rate was 4.8 percent. 

The labor force increased in July by 1,799. The July total was 143,685. That number is down by 3,168 from the total from July 2019.

River Valley ended July with 131,314 employed residents.  The number increased by 1,351 in July but was down 8,446 as compared to last year.

Initial claims for unemployment decreased by 16 percent in July. When compared to last July, claims were up by about 1,616 percent.

Employ Georgia, the GDOL’s online job listing service at employgeorgia.com showed 3,197 active job postings in River Valley for July.