Metro Gainesville jobless rate down

ATLANTA - The unemployment rates for metro Gainesville and several other places in the Gainesville area are down... for a change.

The Georgia Department of Labor (GDOL) reports that the unemployment rate in the metro Gainesville area declined to a preliminary unadjusted rate of 8.7 percent in March, down from a revised 8.8 percent in February. The March jobless rate was up 4.3 percentage points from 4.4 percent at this same time last year.

Elsewhere in the Gainesville area, rates were also down in Barrow, Jackson, Lumpkin and White counties... and unchanged in Gwinnett.

Meanwhile, the stateâ