Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said Thursday that the Three Rivers region set two records in December.

Preliminary results show the 10-county area set a record high for employment and labor force. The region also saw unemployment slightly increase.

“Georgia finished the year strong by continuing to add jobs in all major sectors,” Butler said. “Moving forward, we need to attract more people to the workforce, so we can fill these great jobs.”

In Three Rivers, the unemployment rate increased 0.1 percentage points in December to 2.8 percent. A year ago, the rate was 3.6 percent.

The labor force went up in December by 1,454 to reach 250,564,

an all-time high. That number is up by 2,606 from the total in December 2018.

The Three Rivers region ended December with 243,611 employed residents – a record high.  The number increased by 1,129 in December and went up by 4,694 as compared to last year.

The number of unemployment claims increased in December by about 95 percent. When compared to last December, claims were up by about 32 percent

The Three Rivers area includes Butts, Carroll, Coweta, Heard, Lamar, Meriwether, Pike, Spalding, Troup, and Upson counties.