Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said Thursday that in July Athens  increased its jobs, labor force and employed residents. 

At the same time, the four-county metropolitan statistical area (MSA) saw its unemployment rate fall.  

All indicators still remain positive for the year. 

“Georgia’s continues to be in a period of sustained growth,” Butler said. “There are no indicators in July that Georgia’s growth is going to slow down anytime soon.”

The July unemployment rate fell to 3.7 percent– tied for second among all 14 MSAs in Georgia. That’s down 0.4 percent from the previous month and down from 4.9 percent one year ago. 

The labor force increased in July by 325 to reach 104,631 total members.  The number has climbed by nearly 3,300 over the past 12 months.  

Athens added 716 new employed residents in July, pushing its total to 100,728. That number has grown by about 4,300 over the past year.  

Athens  saw jobs inch up by 100 to 99,200. This puts Athens  up 3,300 jobs for the year.

Initial claims for unemployment up by about 25 percent for the month and are down by about 24 percent for the year.   

Employ Georgia, the GDOL’s online job listing service at employgeorgia.com showed 1,327 active job postings in metro Athens  for July. 

The four-county MSA includes Clarke, Madison, Oconee and Oglethorpe counties.