Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said Thursday that Southwest Georgia’s labor force increased in July. 

Additionally, Southwest Georgia saw a monthly decrease in initial claims for 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 almost all regions and counties.”

In Southwest Georgia, the unemployment rate increased in July to 7.2 percent, an increase of 0.6 percentage points. A year ago, the rate was 4.4 percent. 

The labor force increased in July by 517. The July total was 142,730. That number is down by 3,413 from the total from July 2019. 

Southwest Georgia ended July with 132,409 employed residents.  The number decreased by 398 in July and was down 7,232 as compared to last year.

Initial claims for unemployment decreased by 12 percent in July. When compared to last July, claims were up by about 1,532 percent. 

Employ Georgia, the GDOL’s online job listing service at employgeorgia.com showed 1,776 active job postings in Southwest Georgia for July.