Metro jobless rate exceeds Clarke rate in January | News

ATLANTA -- State labor officials say the preliminary unemployment rate in metro Atlanta rose to 9.2 percent in January, up three-tenths of a percentage point from a revised 8.9 percent in December.

In Clarke County, the unemployment rate was 7.3 percent in January.

Statistics released Thursday by the Georgia Department of Labor also show that metro Athens had the lowest rate among local areas in the state at 7.1 percent.

Metro Dalton had the highest local rate at 12.7 percent.