VALDOSTA — The Georgia Department of Labor announced today that Metro Valdosta’s unemployment rate for April was 5.9 percent, down three-tenths of a percentage point from 6.2 percent in March. This is the lowest the rate has been since August 2008 when it was 5.8 percent. The rate in April 2014 was 6.7 percent.

The rate declined as employers added jobs and laid off fewer workers. The number of jobs in Valdosta increased by 500, or 0.9 percent, in April to 55,800, up from 55,300 in March. Most of the job gains came in the service-related industries such as trade, transportation and warehousing.

And, there was an over-the-year gain of 1,000 jobs, or 1.8 percent, from 54,800 in April 2014. Most of the job growth came in trade, transportation and warehousing, along with the goods-producing sector, which includes manufacturing and construction.

The number of initial claims for unemployment insurance declined by 16, or 5.4 percent, to 280 in April, down from 296 in March. Most of the decrease came in construction. Over the year, claims were down by 128, or 31.4 percent, from 408 filed in April 2014.

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.

Georgia Department of Labor