Georgia’s unemployment rate remained at 6.3 percent in April, the state labor department said Thursday.
Here’s what is going on:
— Employers are hiring more workers. The number of jobs grew by 7,400 from March to April, totaling 4,247,500 in the state.
— The sectors that added employees included professional and business services; arts entertainment and recreation; local government, including the public schools; construction; health care and social assistance; and nondurable manufacturing, including textiles and food processing.
— There were job losses in wholesale trade; other services, including personal, laundry, repair and maintenance; financial activities, which includes insurance, real estate, rental and leasing; and state government.
— Employers laid off fewer people. There was a 7.2 percent drop in first-time claims for unemployment benefits from March to April.
— Over the past year, the state has added nearly 122,000 jobs. That brought the unemployment rate down from 7.3 percent in April 2014. But Georgia’s rate is still considerably higher than the 5.4 percent national average.
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