Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said Thursday that Atlanta’s labor force, employed residents, and jobs all reached all-time highs in December.

Meanwhile, in December the 29-county metropolitan statistical area (MSA) showed that most critical indicators remained positive for the year, preliminary numbers showed.

“This was a very positive year for the state,” Butler said. “We saw over-the-year growth in almost every MSA, and our key jobs sectors continue to grow as the economy expands.”

In Atlanta, the unemployment rate increased by 0.1 percentage points during December to land at 2.7 percent. A year ago, the rate was 3.5 percent.

Atlanta ended December with a record 2.9 million jobs – a new record. That’s an increase of 11,800 jobs in December. Jobs climbed by more than 66,700 as compared to a year ago.

The labor force increased in December by 20,246, bringing the total to 3.1 million— an all-time high. That number is up by 30,576 from the total of December 2018.

Atlanta ended December with over 3 million employed residents – a new record high. The number increased by 16,342 in November and was up by 56,377 over December 2018’s total.

The number of unemployment claims went up in December by about 33 percent and were up by about 5 percent from the same period last year.    

Counties included in the MSA are Barrow, Bartow, Butts, Carroll, Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, Coweta, Dawson, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Haralson, Heard, Henry, Jasper, Lamar, Meriwether, Morgan, Newton, Paulding, Pickens, Pike, Rockdale, Spalding and Walton.