Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said Thursday that the Northeast Georgia region grew its labor force and added employed residents in July.
 
The 12-county area also saw its unemployment rate fall in July, according to preliminary numbers.
 
“Georgia continues to perform well in terms of jobs, claims and other data I’m seeing,” said Butler. “Georgia’s strong economy was also evident in July in our local communities where we again set several records.”
 
Nationally, the unemployment rate was unchanged in July at 3.7 percent. Georgia’s rate dropped 0.1 percentage points to settle at 3.6 percent.  A year ago, Georgia’s unemployment rate sat at 3.8 percent.
 
Rates fell or held steady across nine of Georgia’s 12 planning regions.
 
In the region, the unemployment rate decreased in July by 0.3 percentage points, settling at 3.4 percent. A year ago, the rate was 4 percent.
 
The labor force grew in July by 323. The July total was 306,132. That number is down by 159 from the total of July 2018.
 
The Northeast region ended July with 295,636 employed residents.  The number increased by 1,003 in July and went up 1,453 when compared to last July.
 
The number of unemployment claims increased in July by about 21 percent. When compared to last July, claims were down by about 17 percent.