Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said Thursday that Augusta set in  April a record for total jobs and its unemployment rate matched the city’s all-time low.
 
According to preliminary data, Augusta also saw monthly gains in all major categories – jobs, employed residents and labor force.  All remain strong for the year as well across the seven-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 3.3 percent. A year ago, the rate was 3.6 percent. The April rate tied the all-time low for Augusta.
 
Augusta ended April with 249,700 jobs – a record for the city. The jobs number   jumped up by 5,100 in April. The number is up by 4,100 when compared to the same time a year ago.
 
The labor force increased in April by 2,840. The total was 273,282. That number has gone up by 1,079 when compared to April of 2018.
 
Augusta ended April with 264,163 employed residents.  That number rose by 4,261 over the month but increased by 1,844 when compared to the same time a year ago.
 
The number of unemployment claims went up by 36 percent in April. When compared to last April, claims were down by about 13 percent.
 
The seven-county MSA includes the counties of Burke, Columbia, Lincoln, McDuffie, Richmond and Aiken and Edgefield in South Carolina.