Jobless Rate Continues Decline in Paulding County, Metro Atlanta

The jobless rate in metro Atlanta continued to decline in March, according to the Georgia Department of Labor.

The agency said the unemployment rate in the region fell from 6.9 percent in February to 6.8 percent in March. The rate was 8.0 this time last year.

Metro Atlanta employers created more jobs and laid off fewer workers last month, the labor department said.

The jobless rate declined in Paulding County, too, from 6.4 percent in February to 6.3 in March. The rate was 7.8 in March 2013. The number of unemployed workers decreased 4,612 to 4,571 last month in the county.

The number of Metro Atlanta jobs (2,427,100) rose 0.7 percent from February (2,409,600) last month, and new unemployment claims fell from 17,897 to 13,982. Most of the job gains came in leisure & hospitality, professional & business services, and trade, transportation & warehousing, the labor department said.

The jobless rate in Georgia fell last month, too.

Georgia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for March was 7.0 percent, down from 7.1. The rate was 8.4 percent last year at this time.

Note: Local area unemployment data are not seasonally adjusted. Georgia labor market data are available at www.employgeorgia.com