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

Additionally, Savannah saw monthly increases in labor force and employment in July.

“As the state continues to reopen, we are going to see wild fluctuations up and down of the unemployment rate across the state,” said Commissioner of Labor Mark Butler.  “The numbers that we really need to focus on are the most important ones, such as increases in workforce and employment which we are continuing to see in all MSAs.”

In Savannah, the unemployment rate decreased 0.2 percentage points in July, reaching 8.4 percent. A year ago, the rate was 3.5 percent. 

The labor force increased in July by 2,432 and ended the month with 184,218. That number is down 6,040 when compared to July of 2019.

Savannah finished the month with 168,679 employed residents.  That number increased by 2,540 over the month but is down by 14,929 when compared to the same time a year ago.

Savannah ended July with 174,800. jobs. That number decreased by 200 from June to July and was down by 11,500 when compared to this time last year. 

The number of unemployment claims went down by 30 percent in July. When compared to last July, claims were up by about 2,399 percent.

Employ Georgia, the GDOL’s online job listing service at employgeorgia.comshowed about 5,159 active job postings in metro Savannah for July.