Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said Thursday that the Northeast Georgia region notched two records in October.
 
The 12-county region remained at an all-time low 2.8 percent unemployment rate and set a record high for employment, preliminary numbers show. The labor force also jumped in October.
 
“October was a great month for Georgia and our local communities,” Butler said. “We continued to create jobs and people gained employment – often at record numbers.”
 
Nationally, the unemployment rate climbed in October to 3.6 percent, an increase of 0.1 percentage points. The nation also grew to its labor force by 325,000, increased employment by 241,000 and added more 125,000 jobs.
 
Georgia’s unemployment rate, meanwhile, fell in October by 0.1 percentage points to 3.4 percent. That tied Georgia’s all-time low set in December of 2000.  
 
Rates fell or held steady across nine of Georgia’s 12 planning regions. Seven set or tied a record for lowest rate ever.
 
In the region, the unemployment rate held steady in October at 2.8 percent. A year ago, the rate was 3.5 percent.
 
The labor force increased in October by 2,257. The October total was 308,452. That number is up by 382 from the total of October 2018.
 
The Northeast region ended October with 299,741 employed residents.  The number increased by 2,203 in October and went up 2,525 when compared to last October.
 
The number of unemployment claims increased in October by about 6 percent. When compared to last October, claims were down by about 6 percent.