Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said Thursday that Albany added more jobs in March.

According to preliminary data Albany also managed to lower its unemployment across the five-county metropolitan statistical area (MSA).

“Overall, March was a very good month,” Butler said. “Georgia’s economy, just like the nation’s, is running strong. Our communities are consistently adding   jobs and unemployment rates are falling. The numbers continue to improve.”

The unemployment rate fell 0.4 percentage points in March, reaching 4.3 percent. A year ago, the rate was 4.7 percent.

Albany ended March with 63,100 jobs. That number grew by 100 over the month and increased by 400 jobs when compared to the same time a year ago.

The labor force decreased in March by 233. Albany ended the month with 67,224. That number shrunk by 549 when compared to March of 2018.

Albany finished the month with 64,300 employed residents.  That number decreased by six over the month and decreased by 320 when compared to the same time a year ago.

The number of unemployment claims went up by nearly 1 percent in March. When compared to last March, claims were down by about 41 percent.

The five-county MSA includes Baker, Dougherty, Lee, Terrell and Worth counties.