The Georgia Department of Labor announced that the unemployment rate in the Northwest Georgia region declined to five percent in April, down six-tenths of a percentage point from 5.6 percent in March. The rate in April 2015 was 5.7 percent.
The rate declined as the number of unemployed residents decreased by 2,465 to 19,926.
Also, the number of initial claims for unemployment insurance declined by 1,399, or 33.4 percent, to 2,786 in April. Most of the decrease came in manufacturing.
And, over the year, claims were down by 295, or 9.6 percent, from 3,081 in April 2015.
Northwest Georgia’s labor force decreased by 2,560 to 400,361.
Metro Gainesville had the lowest area jobless rate at 4.2 percent, while the River Valley region had the highest at 6.4 percent.
Meanwhile, Georgia’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate for April was 5.5 percent, unchanged from March. It was 6.1 percent in April 2015.
State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said job seekers and employers should use the GDOL’s online job listing service,
www.employgeorgia.com to search for jobs or recruit new employees. In April, 2,486 jobs in Northwest Georgia were posted on Employ Georgia. Throughout the state, 71,092 jobs were posted.