The number of first time claimants for unemployment benefits in Chattooga County dropped significantly in July. A first time claim is one filed by a person who has not previously sought unemployment assistance in the preceding 12 months.

The July numbers were released last Thursday by the Georgia Department of Labor.  In Chattooga County, there were only 72 first time unemployment claims filed for the month compared to 117 in June.  That is a decrease of 38.5%.

In fact, claims in the entire 15-county Northwest Georgia region have seen a dramatic decrease. In the entire region, the number of initial claims was down 33.2% from 5,279 in June to 3,528 in July.

Georgia’s unemployment rate fell to 3.7% in July, the lowest it has been since the coronavirus pandemic began in March of last year.

County-by-county unemployment rates for July will be released Aug. 26.

Since cutting off federal pandemic-related checks at the end of June, the state has added nearly 84,000 jobs and seen a 300% increase in the number of employed Georgians, according to Georgia Commissioner of Labor Mark Butler.

“We are seeing all-time high job numbers in many sectors,” Butler said. “The job market is saturated with opportunities for job seekers, and we are working to connect employers with candidates for long-term employment.”