Blanco County has the lowest unemployment rate in the nine-county Rural Capital Area region, according to information released Friday by the Texas Workforce Commission.

The county’s unemployment rate was 6.1 percent for May 2020. The overall rate in the region for May was 10.6 percent, down from 11.5 percent in April. The state’s unemployment rate was 12.7 percent last month, while it stood at 13 percent nationally.

In the nine-county region, after Blanco County, came Fayette County with a 7.0 percent May unemployment rate, while Lee County was at 7.1 percent and Burnet County was at 7.7 percent. Llano County’s rate was 8.8 percent, followed by Bastrop County at 10.3 percent, Williamson County at 10.8 percent and Hays County at 11.7 percent.

Unemployment filings in Blanco County went from just two for the week of March 14 to 76 filings the week of March 28, which was the high number of filings during a single week in the county during the coronavirus pandemic. Those numbers dropped to 49 filings the week of April 18 and 38 the first week of May. Only 25 people in Blanco County filed for unemployment the week of May 30.

Unemployment numbers in Texas spiked as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold this spring. The first released COVID-related unemployment claims started at 7,053 statewide the week of Feb. 22 and jumped to 16,176 filings the week of March 14. A total of 158,364 COVID-related claims were filed the week of March 21, and went to a high of 313,823 filings the week of April 4. COVID-related unemployment filings started to drop in April, and fell below 200,000 filings the week of May 9, with 141,553. They dropped to 106,877 by the week of May 30.