Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said Thursday that Savannah’s unemployment rate decreased in May.  

Due to the effects of COVID-19, all MSA’s continue to see stinted yearly growth, yet monthly gains in nearly all major sectors are beginning to spike.   

“The fact that almost every single monthly indicator in May’s job market report was positive shows great promise to Georgia’s economy up ahead,” said Commissioner of Labor Mark Butler. “Seeing these monthly numbers begin to increase means that we are definitely heading back in the right direction.”   

In Savannah, the unemployment rate decreased 4.2 percentage points in May, reaching 11.1 percent. A year ago, the rate was 3.1 percent.  

Savannah ended May with 167,500 jobs. That number increased by 7,300 from April to May but was down by 20,400 when compared to this time last year.

The labor force increased in May by 1,956 and ended the month with 180,031. That number is down 8,880 when compared to May of 2019. 

Savannah finished the month with 159,999 employed residents.  That number increased by 9,247 over the month but is down by 23,133 when compared to the same time a year ago. 

The number of unemployment claims went down by 40 percent in May to 36,113. When compared to last May, claims were up by about 6,478 percent. 

Employ Georgia, the GDOL’s online job listing service at employgeorgia.com showed about 3,266 active job postings in metro Savannah for May.