Mar. 15, 2013 - The Georgia Department of Labor announced that the unemployment rate in the Georgia Mountains region rose to 8  percent in January, but that is just four-tenths of a percentage point from December.  

 
In metro Gainesville the unemployment rate rose three-tenths of a percentage point from 7.2 percent in December.

Both are up from last year.

According to the Georgia Department of LaborThe rate rose because of two primary factors – a loss of seasonal jobs and an increase in new layoffs, represented by initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits.

 
Metro Athens had the lowest area jobless rate at 6.6 percent, while metro Dalton and the Heart of Georgia-Altamaha region had the highest at 11.9 percent. 
 
Meanwhile, Georgia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for January was unchanged from December.

The current rate of 8.7 percent is much better than the 9.3 percent in January a year ago.