Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said Thursday that Athens’ unemployment rate decreased in July.

Additionally, Athens saw monthly increases in labor force and employment in 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 all MSAs.” 

In Athens, the unemployment rate decreased 0.1 percentage point in July, reaching 6.6 percent. A year ago, the rate was 3.7 percent.

The labor force increased in July by 837 and ended the month with 95,170. That number is down 2,734 when compared to July of 2019. 

Athens finished the month with 88,881 employed residents.  That number increased by 845 over the month but is down by 5,394 when compared to the same time a year ago. 

Athens ended July with 91,600. jobs. That number decreased by 200 from June to July and was down by 3,400 when compared to this time last year. 

The number of unemployment claims went down by 23 percent in July. When compared to last July, claims were up by about 2,323 percent. 

Employ Georgia, the GDOL’s online job listing service at employgeorgia.com showed about 2,115 active job postings in metro Athens for July.