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Jobless rate up in area in January
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ATLANTA — The Georgia Department of Labor announced Thursday that the preliminary unemployment rate in Hinesville rose to 9.3 percent in January, up two-tenths of a percentage point from a revised 9.1 percent in December. The jobless rate in Hinesville in January a year ago was 8.9 percent.
The rate increased because there were layoffs in construction, manufacturing, administrative and support services, health care and social assistance, and accommodations and food services.     
Metro Athens had the lowest area rate at 7.1 percent, while metro Dalton had the highest at 12.7 percent. 
Meanwhile, Georgia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate declined for the sixth month in a row to 9.2 percent in January, the lowest rate since March 2009 when it was 9.1 percent. That is a decline of two-tenths of a percentage point from a revised 9.4 percent in December. The jobless rate was 10.1 percent in January a year ago.
Statewide, the rate went down because about 13,000 more Georgians were employed in January than in December. Also, numbers show that Georgia gained 83,700 jobs in the last 12 months. This is the largest January to January job growth since 2006.
Among the sectors showing growth over the year, professional and businesses services gained 37,000 jobs, retail trade gained 15,100, health care and social assistance grew by 11,100, and manufacturing gained 7,300.

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