Heart of Georgia sets record in April

Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said Thursday that the Heart of Georgia region tied for a record in April for its lowest unemployment rate.

Preliminary results showed the 17-county area posted annual gains in labor force and employed residents for the month.

“In April, we set record lows for unemployment across the state,” Butler said. “And, the numbers show we traditionally do even better through the upcoming summer months.”

The unemployment rate fell in April. The rate dropped 0.3 percentage points in April, settling at 4.1 percent, tied for an all-time low. A year ago, the rate was 4.5 percent.

Nationally, the rate for April was 3.6 percent.

The labor force fell in April by 622. The April total was 116,944. That number is up by 481 from the total from April 2018.

The Heart of Georgia region ended April with 112,138 employed residents.  The number decreased by 255 in April and increased by 968 as compared to last April.

The number of unemployment claims rose in April by 72 percent. When compared to last April, claims were up by 26 percent.

The Heart of Georgia region includes Appling, Bleckley, Candler, Dodge, Emanuel, Evans, Jeff Davis, Johnson, Laurens, Montgomery, Tattnall, Telfair, Toombs, Treutlen, Wayne, Wheeler, and Wilcox counties.

Employ Georgia, the GDOL’s online job listing service at employgeorgia.comshowed 732 active job postings in Heart of Georgia  region for April.