Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said Thursday that Savannah reached in April an all-time high for number of jobs.

According to preliminary data, Savannah also saw its unemployment rate decrease across the three-county metropolitan statistical area (MSA).

“Georgia’s economy continues to be strong,” Butler said, “In April we saw several communities set records for jobs and others set records for lowest unemployment rate. Typically, we see gains through the summer as well.”

The unemployment rate fell 0.6 percentage points in April, reaching 2.9 percent. A year ago, the rate was 3.4 percent.

Savannah ended April with 185,300 jobs – a new record. That’s an increase of 600 jobs over the month and an increase of 2,300 jobs when compared to the same time a year ago.

The labor force decreased in April by 1,419. The total is 186,545. That number is down by 2,078 when compared to the same time last year.

Savannah ended April with 181,095 employed residents.  That number fell by 291 over the month and is down by 1,126 when compared to the same time a year ago.

Unemployment claims increased in April by 11 percent. When compared to last April, claims were down by about 7 percent.

The MSA includes Bryan, Chatham, and Effingham counties.