GDOL: Heart of Georgia’s rate increases

Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said Thursday that Heart of Georgia region’s unemployment rate increased in December.

“Georgia finished the year strong by continuing to add jobs in all major sectors,” Butler said. “Moving forward, we need to attract more people to the workforce, so we can fill these great jobs.”

In Heart of Georgia, the unemployment rate increased 0.4 percentage points in December to 4.1 percent. A year ago, the rate was 4.6 percent.

The labor force in Heart of Georgia decreased by 82 in December, bringing the total to 114,732. The number has decreased by 2,671 when compared to the same month a year ago.

Heart of Georgia lost 448 employed residents in December, bringing the total to 110,080. The number is down 1,907 for the year.

Claims for unemployment insurance were up by about 163 percent in December. They were up by about 27 percent when compared to the same month a year ago.

Employ Georgia, the GDOL’s online job listing service at employgeorgia.com showed 970 active job postings in Heart of Georgia for December.

The Heart of Georgia region includes Appling, Bleckley, Candler, Dodge, Emanuel, Evans, Jeff Davis, Johnson, Laurens, Montgomery, Tattnall, Telfair, Toombs, Treutlen, Wayne, Wheeler, and Wilcox counties.