Chattooga County saw an increase in first-time unemployment claims from December to January.  New numbers were released by the Georgia Department of Labor yesterday.

Georgia Labor Commissioner Bruce Thompson announced that Georgia’s January unemployment rate was 3.1, the first drop in over a year after holding at 3.2 percent for each month during 2023. The unemployment rate was six-tenths lower than the national unemployment rate. Jobs were up 1,500 (0.1%) over the month and up by 51,200 (1.0%) over the year to 4,936,000.  The number of employed was up by 4,814 to 5,163,147, an all-time high, and was up by 74,708 over the past 12 months. The employment-to-population ratio held at 59.5 percent and was unchanged from 59.5 percent over the last 12 months.

In Chattooga County, there were 221 initial unemployment claims for January, up from 161 in December of 2023.