Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said Thursday that the Georgia Mountains region set records for labor force and employed residents in July.   
 
Georgia Mountains also saw the unemployment rate fall across the 13-county region, according to preliminary numbers.
 
“Georgia continues to perform well in terms of jobs, claims and other data I’m seeing,” said Butler. “Georgia’s strong economy was also clear in our local communities in July, a month that saw several again set records.”
 
Nationally, the unemployment rate was unchanged in July at 3.7 percent. Georgia’s rate dropped 0.1 percentage points to settle at 3.6 percent.  A year ago, Georgia’s unemployment rate sat at 3.8 percent.
 
Rates fell or held steady across nine of Georgia’s 12 planning regions.
In the region, the July unemployment rate decreased by 0.1 percentage points, coming in at 3.2 percent.  It was 3.6 percent one year ago.
 
The labor force increased in July by 900 to reach 351,932 total members. That’s an all-time high for the region. The number has climbed by 1,943 over the past 12 months.
 
The Georgia Mountains region added 1,399 employed residents in July, bringing its total to 340,773. That number has grown by 3,457 over the past year.
 
Initial claims for unemployment went up by about 47 percent in July. They are down by about 13 percent when compared to last July.