Metro Atlanta's jobless rate increases to 5.2 percent
ATLANTA (AP) — State labor officials say metro Atlanta's unemployment rate has risen to 5.2 percent.
The Georgia Department of Labor on Thursday announced the new figure for January. It's up from 4.8 percent in December, but below the 6.2 percent rate from January 2015.
The labor department said in a statement that the rate rose as the number of jobs decreased and the number of new layoffs increased.
The agency said that much of the change is due to seasonal hiring for temporary jobs and the layoffs that follow it.
Metro Gainesville had Georgia's lowest area jobless rate at 4.5 percent.
Metro Dalton had the highest at 7.2 percent.
The local area unemployment rates are not seasonally adjusted.