Georgia's unemployment falls to 9.9 percent, Albany's up slightly

Wednesday, May 18, 2011
© Copyright 2013 Albany Herald

Photo by Stephen Kubiak

ATLANTA (AP) -- State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler says Georgia's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate declined to 9.9 percent in April, down one-tenth of a percentage point from a revised 10 percent in March.

The state's jobless rate was 10.1 percent in April a year ago.

Butler said Thursday it's the first time in nearly two years that Georgia's unemployment has dipped below 10 percent. He says it's also the third consecutive month of job growth in the state.

The last time the state's rate was below 10 percent was in June 2009, when it was 9.8 percent.

There were 3,834,100 payroll jobs in April, up by 30,100 from March. Most of the jobs were added in leisure and hospitality, professional and business services, trade, educational and health services and construction.

In Albany, raw numbers show that initial claims for unemployment insurance were also down from last April.

According to the Georgia Department of Labor, claims dropped by 31.4 percent in April 2011 when compared to April 2010.

The April 2011 claims were higher, however, than March 2011.

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