Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said Thursday that Macon’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 Macon, the unemployment rate decreased 2.1 percentage points in May, reaching 8.9 percent. A year ago, the rate was 3.7 percent.  

Macon ended May with 94,600 jobs. That number increased by 900 from April to May but was down by 8,500 when compared to this time last year.

The labor force increased in May by 451 and ended the month with 97,463. That number is down 5,106 when compared to May of 2019. 

Macon finished the month with 88,804 employed residents.  That number increased by 2,482 over the month but is down by 10,012 when compared to the same time a year ago.  

The number of unemployment claims went down by 36 percent in May to 14,210. When compared to last May, claims were up by about 3,308 percent.

Employ Georgia, the GDOL’s online job listing service at employgeorgia.com showed about 1,754 active job postings in metro Macon for May.