ATLANTA – The Georgia Department of Labor announced Thursday morning that the unemployment rate in the Northeast Georgia region for March was 5.8 percent, down two-tenths of a percentage point from 6.0 percent in February. The rate in March 2014 was 7.0 percent.
The rate declined as the number of unemployed residents decreased by 614 to 16,043 from 16,657 in February, partially because employers laid off fewer workers.
There were 71, or 4.5 percent, fewer new claims for unemployment insurance filed in March, as the number declined to 1,497 from 1,568 in February. Most of the decrease in claims came in construction. Over the year, claims were down by 52, or 3.4 percent, from 1,549 filed in March 2014.
Metro Gainesville had the lowest area jobless rate at 4.9 percent, while the Heart of Georgia-Altamaha region had the highest at 7.8 percent.
Meanwhile, Georgia’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate for March was 6.3 percent, unchanged from February. It was 7.3 percent in March 2014.
Local area unemployment data are not seasonally adjusted.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2015/4/305500/ne-gas-unemployment-rate-drops-to-58-in-march-gainesville-again-has-lowest-rate-of-all-metro-areas