Beaufort County’s unemployment rate decreased from March to April, falling from 6.2 percent to 5.9 percent, according to information compiled by the Labor & Economics Analysis Division of the N.C. Department of Commerce.

For the first time this year, Hyde County did not have the highest monthly unemployment rate in the state. The state’s unemployment rate fell from 5.4 percent in March to 5 percent in April, the lowest rate in eight years, according to LEAD figures.

Beaufort County’s unemployment rate (factoring in the number of reported jobless people) for April ranked 70^th in the state. Its March jobless rate ranked 65th in the state, according to LEAD figures.

“Slow and steady growth continues for North Carolina’s economy. In April, the unemployment rate, as well as the actual number of unemployed people, reached seasonally adjusted lows unseen since the second quarter of 2008. Even measures that have struggled at times over the past few years grew in April. The labor-force participation rate inched up for the fourth straight month; and housing permits and average weekly wages rose modestly,” according to a NCDOC news release.

Beaufort County’s workforce for April was at 20,240 people, with 19,046 of those people on the job, leaving 1,194 without work, according to LEAD data. Beaufort County’s workforce in March totaled 20,412 people. Of that number, 1,258 people were unable to secure employment and 19,154 people were on the job, according to LEAD data.

Among the state’s 100 counties in April, 38 of them had unemployment rates of 5 percent or lower, 62 counties had jobless rates between 5 percent and 10 percent and no counties had jobless rates of 10 percent or higher. Scotland County had the highest unemployment rate in April at 9.5 percent, with Buncombe County having the lowest jobless rate in April at 3.7 percent, according to LEAD figures.

Hyde County’s unemployment rate fell from 13.3 percent in March to 9.4 percent in April, second highest in the state, according to LEAD figures. In April 2015, the county’s jobless rate was at 8.3 percent.

In Martin County, the unemployment rate fell from 7.1 percent in March to 6.7 percent in April, according to LEAD data. The county’s jobless rate in April 2015 was at 7.4 percent.

Pitt County’s unemployment rate was at 5.6 percent in March, declining to 5.4 percent in April, according to LEAD information. In April 2015, the county’s jobless rate was at 5.7 percent.

In Washington County, the unemployment rate fell from 7.9 percent in March to 7.5 percent in April, according to LEAD figures. The county’s jobless rate in April 2015 was at 8.6 percent.

The Washington statistical area’s jobless rate in April was 5.9 percent, down from 6.2 percent in the previous month. The Greenville-Washington combined statistical area’s jobless rate decreased from 5.7 percent in March to 5.5 percent in April.

Of the state’s 15 metropolitan statistical areas, five of the six MSAs east of Interstate 95, the Greensboro/High Point MSA and the Fayetteville MSA had the highest unemployment rates in April, all above or at the state average of 5 percent, according to LEAD figures. The Wilmington MSA’s jobless rate for April was 4.7 percent.

The jobless figures released by the Commerce Department do not include unemployed people whose unemployment insurance benefits expired and who are not listed as unemployed. Factor in those people and a county’s true jobless rate is higher.