Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said Thursday that Augusta’s unemployment rate fell again in March.
 
According to preliminary data, Augusta also kept all annual numbers positive across the seven-county metropolitan statistical area (MSA).
 
“Overall, March was a very good month,” Butler said. “Georgia’s economy, just like the nation’s, is running strong. Our communities are consistently adding   jobs and unemployment rates are falling. The numbers continue to improve.”
 
The unemployment rate fell 0.1 percentage points in March, reaching 3.9 percent. A year ago, the rate was 4.2 percent.
 
Augusta ended March with 244,200 jobs. That number remained flat over the month but climbed by 3,600 jobs when compared to the same time a year ago.
 
The labor force decreased in March by 1,026. The total was 270,106. That number has gone up by 532 when compared to March of 2018.
 
Augusta ended March with 259,571 employed residents.  That number fell by 733 over the month but increased by 1,357 when compared to the same time a year ago.
 
The number of unemployment claims went down by 22 percent in March. When compared to last March, claims were down by about 21 percent.
 
The seven-county MSA includes the counties of Burke, Columbia, Lincoln, McDuffie, Richmond and Aiken and Edgefield in South Carolina.