ATLANTA – The Georgia Department of Labor (GDOL) announced today that the unemployment rate in the Southern Georgia region in April was 4.8 percent, down two-tenths of a percentage point from 5 percent in March. In April 2016, the rate was 5.3 percent.

The rate declined as more people became employed, the labor force grew and employers reduced the number of new layoffs.

There were 492 more Southern Georgia area residents employed in April than in March, pushing the total number to 167,837. There were 4,038 more people employed in April than in April 2016.

The labor force, which consists of employed residents and those who are unemployed and actively looking for jobs, grew by 157 to 176,268. That total represents an increase of 3,367 over the past 12 months.

The number of initial claims for unemployment insurance, a measure of new layoffs, declined by 78, or 9.9 percent, to 709. Most of the decrease came in manufacturing. Over the year, claims were down by 304, or 30 percent, from 1,013 in April 2016.

Metro Gainesville had the lowest area jobless rate at 3.9 percent, while the Heart of Georgia and River Valley regions had the highest at 5.9 percent.

Meanwhile, Georgia’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate for April was 5 percent, down from 5.1 percent in March. It was 5.4 percent in April 2016.

Job seekers and employers are encouraged to use GDOL’s online job listing service employgeorgia.com to search for jobs or recruit new employees. In April, 1,525 new job openings in the Southern Georgia region were posted on Employ Georgia. Throughout the state, 75,183 new job openings were posted.