ATLANTA—The Georgia Department of Labor announced that Effingham County’s unemployment rate for April was 4.9 percent, down from 5.1 percent in March.
Effingham’s jobless rate was 5.8 percent for April 2014. The number of unemployed people fell from 1,506 in April 2014 to a preliminary number of 1,303 for April 2015.
The unemployment rate for Effingham is the lowest since July 2008, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, when it was 4.9 percent.
Metro Savannah’s unemployment rate for April was 5.5 percent, down three-tenths of a percentage point from 5.8 percent in March. This is the lowest the rate has been since June 2008 when it was 5.3 percent. The rate in April 2014 was 6.5 percent.
The rate declined as employers added jobs and laid off fewer workers. The number of jobs in Savannah increased by 2,800, or 1.7 percent, in April to 171,700, up from 168,900 in March. Most of the job gains came in professional and business services, leisure and hospitality and retail trade.
There was an over-the-year gain of 7,500 jobs, or 4.6 percent, from 164,200 in April 2014. Most of the job growth came in professional and business services, leisure and hospitality, 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 135, or 15.8 percent, to 717 in April, down from 852 in March. Most of the decrease came in construction, accommodations and food services, retail trade and manufacturing. Over the year, claims were down by 189, or 20.9 percent, from 906 filed in April 2014.
The DOL also announced that the unemployment rate in the Coastal Georgia region for April was 5.7 percent, down three-tenths of a percentage point from 6.0 percent in March. This is the lowest the rate has been since June 2008 when it was 5.4 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 273, or 17 percent, to 1,330 in April, down from 1,603 in March. Most of the decrease in claims came in manufacturing and construction, health care, social assistance and educational services, along with accommodations and food services. Over the year, claims were down by 232, or 14.9 percent, from 1,562 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.
Local area unemployment data are not seasonally adjusted. Georgia labor market data are available at www.gdol.ga.gov Connect with the DOL on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter @GeorgiaDOL, which can be accessed via the Web site at www.gdol.ga.gov.
