From The Associated Press The number of Americans seeking unemployment aid fell last week to the lowest level in five years, evidence that employers are cutting fewer jobs and may step up hiring. The Labor Department said Thursday that weekly unemployment benefit applications dropped 5,000 to a seasonally adjusted 330,000. That's the fewest since January 2008. The four-week average, a less volatile measure, fell to 351,750. That's also the lowest…

Jan. 17, 2013 - The Georgia Department of Labor announced today that Georgia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased to 8.6 percent in December, that's up one-tenth of a percentage point from 8.5 percent in November, but it is much better than the rate a year ago, which was 9.4 percent. Georgia’s labor force grew by 4,159, reaching 4,804,459 in December, its highest level since February 2009. The number of long-term unemployed workers…