Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said Thursday that Gainesville 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 Gainesville, the unemployment rate increased in May by 0.1 percentage points, reaching at 2.7 percent. A year ago, the rate was 7.6 percent.

The labor force decreased in Gainesville by 551 and ended the month with 104,047. That number is up 2,498 when compared to May of 2020.

Gainesville finished the month with 101,234 employed residents.  That number decreased by 665 over the month and is up by 7,425 when compared to the same time a year ago.

Gainesville ended May with 93,300 jobs. That number increased by 300 from April to May and increased by 5,000 when compared to this time last year.

The number of unemployment claims went down by 18 percent in May. When compared to last May, claims were down by about 89 percent.