Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said Thursday that Albany saw its initial claims for unemployment drop over-the-month and over-the-year.

"This is a step in the right direction, but we need to continue to get Georgians back to work,” said Commissioner of Labor Mark Butler. “Increasing the amount of people in our labor force is critical for us to continue to improve.”

In Albany, the unemployment rate remained unchanged in May, staying at 5 percent. A year ago, the rate was 8.7 percent.

The labor force decreased in Albany by 861 and ended the month with 65,685. That number is up 481 when compared to May of 2020.

Albany finished the month with 62,366 employed residents.  That number decreased by 784 over the month and is up by 2,830 when compared to the same time a year ago.

Albany ended May with 59,500 jobs. That number decreased by 300 from April to May and increased by 1,800 when compared to this time last year.

The number of unemployment claims went down by 9 percent in May. When compared to last May, claims were down by about 82 percent.

Employ Georgia, the GDOL’s online job listing service at employgeorgia.com showed about 1,601 active job postings in metro Albany for May.

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