Metro Atlanta's jobless rate rises to 7.2 percent

ATLANTA - State labor officials say metro Atlanta's unemployment rate increased to 7.2 percent in January.

That's up from 6.8 percent in December, but still well below the 8.8 percent rate from January a year ago.

The new figure was announced early today by the Georgia Department of Labor.

Officials from the state agency say the jobless rate rose mainly because the Atlanta area lost 39,700 mostly seasonal jobs.

Statewide, metro Athens had the lowest area jobless rate at 5.4 percent.

The Heart of Georgia-Altamaha region had the highest at 9.8 percent.

The local area unemployment rates are not seasonally adjusted.

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