Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said Thursday that the Northeast Georgia region set an all-time high for labor force in December.

Preliminary numbers show, the 12-county region also maintained positive annual numbers for employed residents and labor force. The unemployment rate slightly increased in December.

“Georgia finished the year strong by continuing to add jobs in all major sectors,” Butler said. “Moving forward, we need to attract more people to the workforce, so we can fill these great jobs.”

In the region, the unemployment rate increased 0.1 percentage points in December to 2.6 percent. A year ago, the rate was 3.4 percent.

The labor force increased in December by 374. The December total was 308,931, an all-time high. That number is up by 1,436 from the total in December 2018.

The Northeast region ended December with 300,911 employed residents. The number decreased by 10 in December, but went up by 3,919 when compared to last year.
 
The number of unemployment claims increased in December by about 28 percent. When compared to last December, claims were up by about 13 percent.

The Northeast Georgia region includes Barrow, Clarke, Elbert, Greene, Jackson, Jasper, Madison, Morgan, Newton, Oconee, Oglethorpe, and Walton counties.