Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said Thursday that the Northwest region added to its workforce and number of employed residents in July.
 
Preliminary results showed that the 15-county area saw its unemployment rate climb for the month.
 
“Georgia continues to perform well in terms of jobs, claims and other data I’m seeing,” said Butler. “Georgia’s strong economy was also evident in July in our local communities where we again set several 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 unemployment rate rose in July by 0.1 percentage points to settle at 3.8 percent. A year ago, the rate was 4.3 percent.
 
The labor force increased in July by 1,661. The total came to 422,680.  That number is down by 568 from the total from July 2018.
 
The Northwest region ended July with 406,775 employed residents.  The number increased by 1,526 in July and 1,521 as compared to last July.
 
The number of unemployment claims went up in July by about 100 percent. When compared to last July, claims were up by about 15 percent.
 
The Northwest Georgia region includes Bartow, Chattooga, Catoosa, Dade, Fannin, Floyd, Gilmer, Gordon, Haralson, Murray, Paulding, Pickens, Polk, Walker, and Whitfield.