Metro Atlanta’s unemployment rate ticked down to 6.8 percent in March from 6.9 percent in February, as employers hired more workers and reduced layoffs, the state labor department said Thursday.
The number of jobs increased by 17,500 to reach 2,427,100 in March.
Most of the gains came in leisure and hospitality — 6,200 new jobs; professional and business services — 5,900; trade, transportation and warehousing — 3,700; construction — 900; government — 800; and information services — 700.
During the past the year, the number of jobs increased by 51,500 as the unemployment rate fell from 8.0 percent in March 2013.
The big annual gainers were trade, transportation and warehousing — 16,400 new jobs; professional and business services — 12,700; leisure and hospitality — 10,500; construction — 6,000; education and health services — 5,300; and information services — 1,200. Government, meanwhile, cut 2,300 jobs.
On the layoff front, there were 13,982 new claims for unemployment insurance filed in March — a drop of 21.9 percent from February.
Most of the decline in claims came in construction — 1,114; manufacturing — 1,014; and administrative and support services — 619.
For the core metro Atlanta counties, Gwinnett posted the lowest unemployment rate at 6.0 percent. Cobb was next at 6.3 percent, followed by DeKalb (7.1 percent), Fulton (7.6 percent) and Clayton (8.6 percent).
Statewide, metro Athens had the lowest area jobless rate at 5.1 percent, while the Heart of Georgia-Altamaha region had the highest at 9.4 percent.
Last week, the labor department said Georgia’s unemployment rate was 7.0 percent in March. The U.S. rate was 6.7 percent.
