The Georgia Department of Labor announced Thursday that the unemployment rate in the Northwest Georgia region for April was 5.8 percent, down four-tenths of a percentage point from 6.2 percent in March. This is the lowest the rate has been since April 2008 when it was 5.3 percent. The rate in April 2014 was 6.7 percent.
The rate declined as employers laid off fewer workers. The number of initial claims for unemployment insurance declined by 899, or 22.6 percent, to 3,081 in April, down from 3,980 in March. Most of the decrease in claims came in textile manufacturing as workers who filed temporary claims in March returned to work in April. Fewer claims were also filed in construction and administrative and support services. Over the year, claims were down by 13, or 0.4 percent, from 3,094 filed in April 2014.
Metro Dalton’s unemployment rate for April was 6.7 percent, down three-tenths of a percentage point from 7.0 percent in March. This is the lowest the rate has been since June 2008 when it was 6.6 percent. The rate in April 2014 was 7.7 percent.
The rate declined as employers laid off fewer workers. The number of initial claims for unemployment insurance declined by 533, or 36.4 percent, to 933 in April, down from 1,466 in March. Most of the decrease came in manufacturing and administrative and support services. Over the year, claims were down by one, or 0.1 percent, from 934 filed in April 2014.
The number of jobs in Dalton was unchanged at 68,400 from March to April. However, there was an over-the-year gain of 2,300 jobs, or 3.5 percent, from 66,100 in April 2014. Most of the job growth came in textiles and other manufacturing industries, along with trade, transportation and warehousing, and professional and business services.
Metro Gainesville had the lowest area jobless rate at 4.7 percent, while 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.