Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said Thursday the unemployment rate fell sharply in Middle Georgia in April.
 
At the same time, the labor force and number of employed residents dropped. Still 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 Middle Georgia region fell to 213,393.
 
Middle Georgia lost 427 employed residents for the month but remains up 4,398 over the last year. Only five of Georgia’s 12 regional commissions saw an increase in employed residents.
 
The Middle Georgia labor force ended April at 222,225. That number is down 1,554 over the last month but up 2,395 over the last year.
 
The jobless rate fell to 4 percent, a drop of .5 percent over the past month. A year ago, the jobless rate was 4.9 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 Middle Georgia region, initial claims for unemployment were up about 130 percent for the month and up almost 100 percent for the year.
 
The Middle Georgia region includes Baldwin, Bibb, Crawford, Houston, Jones. Monroe, Peach, Pulaski, Putnam, and Wilkinson counties.