ATLANTA | State labor officials say metro Athens' jobless rate has decreased to 4.9 percent.
The Georgia Department of Labor on Thursday released the new figure, which is for March. The rate was down from 5.3 percent in February.
Athens' rate in March 2015 was 5.3 percent.
Elsewhere in Georgia, metro Gainesville had the state's lowest area jobless rate at 4.5 percent.
The Heart of Georgia-Altamaha and River Valley regions had the highest at 6.9 percent.
Metro Atlanta's jobless rate decreased to 5.2 percent.
The local area unemployment data are not seasonally adjusted.