Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said Thursday that Albany’s initial claims for unemployment spiked in April.

Due to the effects of COVID-19, all MSA’s throughout the state saw a dramatic incline in initial claims along with all major sectors.

 “Although we are seeing all-time high unemployment rates across a majority of the state, we are continuing to work with employers on effective strategies to get Georgians back to work in both a safe and economically efficient way,” said Butler.

In Albany, the unemployment rate increased 5.9 percentage points in April, reaching 11.3 percent. A year ago, the rate was 3.8 percent.

The number of unemployment claims went up by 282 percent in April, which directly correlated with the number of temporary and potentially permanent lay-offs associated with COVID-19. When compared to last April, claims were up by about 4,890 percent. 

Albany ended April with 56,800 jobs. That number decreased by 6,100 from March to April and was down by 6,000 when compared to this time last year.

The labor force decreased in April by 5,363 and ended the month with 62,218. That number is down 3,949 when compared to April of 2019.

Albany finished the month with 55,188 employed residents.  That number decreased by 8,768 over the month and is down by 8,453 when compared to the same time a year ago.

Employ Georgia, the GDOL’s online job listing service at employgeorgia.com showed about 740 active job postings in metro Albany for April.