Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said Thursday the unemployment rate fell sharply in Northeast Georgia during April.
 
At the same time, the commissioner noted decreases in the labor force and number of employed residents for the month of April.
 
However, Butler said many of the indicators over the last year still remain positive.
 
“Even though we did see some fluctuations in the employment and workforce numbers across the state, job growth continues to be very strong,” Butler said.
 
In April, the number of employed residents in the Northeast Georgia region fell to 297,272.
 
Northeast Georgia lost 192 employed residents for the month but remains up 9,490 over the last year. Only five of Georgia’s 12 regional commissions saw an increase in employed residents.
 
The Northeast Georgia labor force ended April at 307,892. That number is down 1,360 over the last month but up 7,262 over the last year.
 
The jobless rate fell to 3.4 percent, a drop of .4 percent over the past month. A year ago, the jobless rate was 4.3 percent. The rates in Georgia’s 12 regions vary from a low of 3.1 percent in the Georgia Mountains to 4.7 percent in the River Valley region.
 
In the Northeast Georgia region, initial claims for unemployment were up about 15 percent for the month and up about 8 percent for the year.
 
The Northeast Georgia region includes Barrow, Clarke, Elbert, Greene, Jackson, Jasper, Madison, Morgan, Newton, Oconee, Oglethorpe, and Walton counties.