Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said Thursday that Valdosta saw its jobs increase in September.

Additionally, Valdosta saw monthly increases in its labor force and number of employed residents for September.

“Although we saw some negative metrics in certain MSAs, a majority of the areas saw increases in jobs, employed residents, and labor force,” said Labor Commissioner Mark Butler. “We really need to push the tens of thousands of jobs that we have on our online job listing page EmployGeorgia.com. The more we fill these jobs the more our state can regulate and show positive numbers throughout all MSAs.”

In Valdosta, the unemployment rate increased 0.3 percentage points in September, reaching 5.5 percent. A year ago, the rate was 3.1 percent.

The labor force increased in September by 769 and ended the month with 63,050. That number is down 539 when compared to September of 2019.

Valdosta finished the month with 59,560 employed residents.  That number increased by 516 over the month but is down by 2,063 when compared to the same time a year ago.

Valdosta ended September with 56,700. jobs. That number increased by 600 from August to September and increased by 400 when compared to this time last year.

The number of unemployment claims went down by 24 percent in Valdosta. When compared to last September, claims were up by about 1,252 percent.