Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said Thursday that the Southwest Georgia region set a record in April for lowest unemployment rate ever.

The 16-county area also posted annual gains in employed residents and saw its unemployment rate drop sharply, preliminary numbers show.

“In April, we set record lows for unemployment across the state,” Butler said. “And, the numbers show we traditionally do even better through the upcoming summer months.”

The unemployment rate fell in April. The rate dropped 0.6 percentage points in April, settling at 3.5 percent, an all-time low. A year ago, the rate was 4.2 percent.

Nationally, the rate for April was 3.6 percent.

The labor force decreased in April by 2,136. The April total was 146,927. That number is down by 620 from the total from April 2018

Southwest Georgia ended April with 141,724 employed residents.  The number decreased by 1,207 in April and rose by 431 as compared to last April.

The number of unemployment claims increased in April by 19 percent. When compared to last April, claims were down by 11 percent.