The Georgia Department of Labor reported on Thursday that the preliminary unadjusted unemployment rate in the Northwest Georgia area rose to 11.6 percent in January, up seven-tenths of one percentage point from a revised 10.9 percent in December. Meanwhile the number of unemployed workers in the area increased to 47,032, up 2,754 from 44,278 in December.
The preliminary unadjusted unemployment rate in metro Dalton rose to 13.1 percent in January, up six-tenths of one percentage point from a revised 12.5 percent in December. Meanwhile the number of unemployed workers in the area increased to 8,178, up 350 from 7,828 in December.
The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 10.4 percent in January, topping the previous record high of 10.3 percent reported in December. This marks the 28th consecutive month that Georgia has exceeded the national seasonally adjusted rate, which was 9.7 percent.
The state’s January jobless rate was up 2.0 percentage points from 8.4 percent at this same time last year. The jobless rate in the Northwest Georgia area in January 2009 was 9.8 percent.
Local area unemployment rates are not seasonally adjusted. Georgia labor market data are available at www.dol.state.ga.us.