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Stanly County’s unemployment rate for April dropped slightly below 4 percent, according to new county-specific data from the state’s Department of Commerce, which was released earlier this month.

That marks the first time the county has had a rate below 4 percent since February of last year, when the rate was 3.7 percent.

Stanly had 1,149 people unemployed in April, which translates to a 3.9 percent unemployment rate; the rate in March was 4.1 percent, with 1,224 people without jobs. The county’s rate is also lower than the state’s rate of 4.4 percent.

A total of 29,683 people were employed in April, a slight decrease from the 29,984 employed in March.

Unemployment rates decreased in 91 counties in April, increased in seven and remained unchanged in two. A total of 75 counties, including Stanly, had rates below 5 percent in April, up from 69 counties in March. No counties had rates above 10 percent for April.

The federal employment rate was 6.1 percent in April, a slight improvement from the 6.0 percent in March, while the economy added 266,000 jobs, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Almost 51,000 North Carolinians filed COVID-19 related initial claims in April, a slight increase from the 45,000 who filed the month before. About 3.7 million claims have been filed in the state since March 15, 2020.

Stanly County had 218 people file COVID-19 related initial unemployment insurance claims (out of 385 total initial claims) in April, an increase from the 195 who filed COVID-19 claims the month before. There are 128 continued COVID-19 related claims for the month.

As in past months, the people who filed the claims in Stanly continue to be predominantly younger, with those ages 25 to 34, 35 to 44 and 45 to 54 accounting for the majority of all claims.

The industries most impacted by the pandemic were manufacturing with 86 claims, unclassified/unknown with 62 claims and trade, transportation and utilities with 55 claims.