Unemployment drops in Northwest Georgia

The Northwest Georgia region saw a drop in the unemployment rate and a decrease in initial unemployment claims in April, Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said.

However, Butler noted that the labor force and number of employed residents fell for the month, though all indicators for the year remain positive.

“Even though we did see some fluctuations in the employment and workforce numbers across the state, job growth continues to be very strong,” Butler said.

In April, the number of employed residents in the Northwest Georgia region fell to 406,945.

Northwest Georgia lost 231 employed residents for the month but remains up 11,811 over the last year. Only five of Georgia’s 12 regional commissions saw an increase in employed residents.

The Northwest Georgia labor force ended April at 422,108. That number is down 2,465 over the last month but up 8,359 over the last year.

The jobless rate fell to 3.6 percent, a drop of .5 percent over the past month. A year ago, the jobless rate was 4.5 percent. The rates in Georgia’s 12 regions vary from a low of 3.1 percent in the Georgia Mountains to 4.7 percent in the River Valley region.

In the Northwest Georgia region, initial claims for unemployment were down about 54 percent for the month and down almost 28 percent for the year.

The Northwest Georgia region includes Bartow, Chattooga, Catoosa, Dade, Fannin, Floyd, Gilmer, Gordon, Haralson, Murray, Paulding, Pickens, Polk, Walker, and Whitfield.