The Georgia Department of Labor announced today that Metro Atlanta’s unemployment rate for April was 5.6 percent, down three-tenths of a percentage point from 5.9 percent in March. This is the lowest the rate has been since May 2008 when it was 5.6 percent. The rate in April 2014 was 6.4 percent.

The rate declined as employers added jobs and laid off fewer workers. 

The number of jobs in Atlanta increased by 21,000, or 0.8 percent, in April to 2,566,300 up from 2,545,300 in March. All job sectors grew. Most of the job gains came in leisure and hospitality, 7,400; professional and business services, 4,800; construction, 2,200; financial activities, 2,000; trade, transportation and warehousing, 1,300; manufacturing, 1,200; government, 1,000; and education and health services, 800.  

And, there was an over-the-year gain of 83,200 jobs, or 3.4 percent, from 2,483,100 in April 2014. This was the largest over-the-year job growth for April since 1999. Most of the job growth came in trade, transportation and warehousing, 21,500; professional and business services, 18,800; leisure and hospitality, 13,300; education and health services, 10,700; financial activities, 6,700; construction, 6,000; government, 4,400; and manufacturing, 2,400. 

The number of initial claims for unemployment insurance declined by 64, or 0.4 percent, to 14,203 in April, down from 14,267 in March. Most of the decrease came in construction. Over the year, claims were down by 1,344, or 8.6 percent, from 15,547 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.