Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said Thursday that Athens added more jobs in April.
 
According to preliminary data Athens also lowered its unemployment rate and initial claims for unemployment across the four-county metropolitan statistical area (MSA).
 
“Georgia’s economy continues to be strong,” Butler said, “In April we saw several communities set records for jobs and others set records for lowest unemployment rate. Typically, we see gains through the summer as well.”
 
The unemployment rate fell 0.6 percentage points in April, reaching 2.9 percent. A year ago, the rate was 3.5 percent.
 
Nationally, the rate for April dropped to 3.6 percent.
 
Athens ended April with 98,600 jobs. That number grew by 100 over the month and increased by 600 jobs when compared to the same time a year ago.
 
The labor force decreased in April by 1,137. Athens ended the month with 100,065. That number shrunk by 1,248 when compared to April of 2018.
 
Athens ended April with 97,139 employed residents.  That number decreased by 488 over the month and fell by 652 when compared to the same time a year ago.
 
The number of unemployment claims went down by about 7 percent in April. When compared to last April, claims were down by about 19 percent.
 
The four-county MSA includes Clarke, Madison, Oconee and Oglethorpe counties.