ATLANTA - The Georgia Department of Labor announced Thursday morning that the unemployment rate for Northeast Georgia dropped for the month of April, and once again, the Gainesville Metro posted the lowest jobless rate of any metro in the state of Georgia.
The unemployment rate in the Northeast Georgia region for April was 5.6 percent, down two-tenths of a percentage point from 5.8 percent in March. This is the lowest the rate has been since May 2008 when it was 5.5 percent. The rate in April 2014 was 6.3 percent.
The rate declined as the number of unemployed residents decreased to 15,438, down by 551 from 15,989 in March.
The number of initial claims for unemployment insurance rose by 67, or 4.5 percent, to 1,564 in April, up from 1,497 in March. Most of the increase in claims came in health care, social assistance and educational services and administrative and support services, along with manufacturing and construction. Over the year, claims were up by 45, or 3.0 percent, from 1,519 filed in April 2014.
Metro Gainesville had the lowest area jobless rate at 4.7 percent, which was the lowest rate for Gainesville since April 2008, according to Labor Commissioner Mark Butler.
The number of jobs in Gainesville increased by 600, or 0.7 percent, in April to 82,900, up from 82,300 in March. Most of the job gains came in the service-related industries, such as wholesale and retail trade, transportation and warehousing. And, there was an over-the-year gain of 3,900 jobs, or 4.9 percent, from 79,000 in April 2014.
The Heart of Georgia-Altamaha and the River Valley regions had the highest at 7.3 percent.
Meanwhile, Georgia’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate for April was 6.3 percent, unchanged from March. It was 7.3 percent in April 2014.
