Local unemployment dropped from April to May as some local residents were able to get back to work, but preliminary figures still show that as of last month some 1,674 people were still out of work, compared to the 2,127 who filed for benefits the previous month.

The rate dropped from a revised figure of 11.3% in April to 9.3% that was released for May, a drop of 2% from month to month. It still remains well over the 3.6% that was reported in May 2019.

The preliminary number for Georgia’s unemployment remained at 9.7% overall, still below the national rate previously reported of 13.3%. The state in April reported a total of 12.6% unemployment, a huge jump from March’s 4.6, and the February figure of 3.1%

Around Polk County, the figures remained up as well. May’s preliminary reports for the surrounding counties stood at around the same rate as Polk’s.

Bartow County posted a 9.7% rate, matching the state’s and down just under 5% from the 14.4% reported back in April that was revised. Floyd County had a rate of 9.1%, down from the 13.2% that was revised from last month. In Haralson, the rate stood at 9.3% which was down from 12.1% last month.

Paulding County’s rate dropped to 8.3% for the preliminary report in May, down from the revised 11.1% rate in April.

Currently, there are 21 of Georgia’s 159 counties that have an unemployment rate above 10%.