Jobless rates down

ATLANTA - The unemployment rate in Hall County is down by almost half a percentage point to three percent.

In the 13-county Georgia Mountains region, which includes Hall, the overall jobless rate has also declined about half a percentage point to three-point-three percent.

Officials with the Georgia Department of Labor says the rates declined because some manufacturing, trade, and service-industry workers who were temporarily laid off in March returned to work.

Rates are also down in Barrow, Forsyth, Habersham, and Jackson counties, and unchanged in Banks.

"Since the first of the year, we have seen slow, but steady job growth," said Labor Department Commissioner Michael Thurmond, "and these new jobs, along with a decline in the unemployment rate, are positive signs of a slow but steady recovery of our economy."

While the economy shows sign of improving, Georgia continues to experience some layoffs and the labor department is serving 83,000 unemployment insurance claims.