Austin’s April jobless rate remained a hair below last year’s level.

The unemployment rate was 4.8 percent last month, just below the April 2012 level of 4.9, according to data released Tuesday by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development. Austin’s rate remains well below the 5.4 percent state average, released last week, and national level of 7.1 percent, all non-seasonally adjusted.

The four-year low for Austin came in November 2012, at 4.5 percent, and the 10 lowest months were all recorded in the last 20.

Last month, DEED reported 654 unemployed Austinites actively looking for work, and a total workforce of 13,489.

Mower County’s unemployment rate was also 4.8 percent in April, with 1,027 unemployed looking for work, or 373 outside of Austin. The four-year low for Mower County was 4.3 percent in November 2012.

Austin’s jobless rate remains lower than Albert Lea’s, at 5.6 percent, and Owatonna’s, at 5.5 percent. Winona’s rate was also 4.8 percent, and Rochester’s remains one of the best in southern Minnesota, last month at 4.3.