The unemployment numbers for the month of August were released yesterday by the Georgia Department of Labor and while the statewide unemployment numbers were down by over 1,700 claims, Chattooga County saw a huge jump in first time unemployment claims.

State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said on Thursday that jobs numbers reached another all-time high four August, increasing almost 16,000 from July. Georgia’s unemployment rate was nine-tenths of a percent lower than the national August 2022 unemployment rate of 3.7 percent.

There are over 220,000 jobs listed online at EmployGeorgia.com, resulting in a minimum of over 290,000 unfilled positions. Market salaries for the jobs listed on Employ Georgia range from $23,000 to $98,000, showing a median salary of $41,000.

Chattooga County had 163 claims in August – an increase of 47% for the month and 126.4% more than this time last year.

With the recent flooding in Chattooga County, there could be even more unemployment claims for the month of September.