Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said Thursday that Southern Georgia saw a decrease in its unemployment rate for April.

“We had another strong month in April,” said Commissioner of Labor Mark Butler. “We saw the unemployment rate decrease in every region and county, along with an over the month and over the year decrease in initial claims for nearly every region and country.”   

 In Southern Georgia, the unemployment rate decreased by 0.1 percentage points, bringing the rate to 3.8 percent. A year ago, the rate was 9.6 percent.

The labor force decreased in April by 1,826. The March total was 182,533. That number is up by 8,088 from the total from April 2020.

Southern Georgia ended April with 175,685 employed residents.  The number decreased by 1,509 in April and was up 17,940 as compared to last year.

Initial claims for unemployment decreased by 1 percent in April. When compared to last April, claims were down by about 87 percent.

The GDOL’s online job listing service at employgeorgia.com showed 1,870 active job postings in Southern Georgia for April.