Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said Thursday that Athens saw positive over-the-month measures in almost every key indicator in March.

“We had another strong month in March,” said Commissioner of Labor Mark Butler. “We saw the unemployment rate drop in every single MSA, along with an increase in jobs across the state and most importantly, a decrease in over-the-year initial claims for every MSA.”   

In Athens, the unemployment rate decreased by 0.4 percentage points in March, reaching 3.4 percent. A year ago, the rate was 3.4 percent.

The labor force increased in Athens by 312 and ended the month with 98,633. That number is down 1,774 when compared to March of 2020.

Athens finished the month with 95,315 employed residents.  That number increased by 702 over the month and is down by 1,644 when compared to the same time a year ago.

Athens ended March with 92,400 jobs. That number increased by 500 from February to March and decreased by 4,500 when compared to this time last year.

The number of unemployment claims went up by 29 percent in Athens. When compared to last March, claims were down by about 67 percent.

Employ Georgia, the GDOL’s online job listing service at employgeorgia.com showed about 2,851 active job postings in metro Athens for March.