Statistics from the Georgia Department of Labor

The counties surrounding Northwest Georgia have once again seen an increase in the initial unemployment rate for June, though numbers are down from June 2011.

According to data released from the Georgia Department of Labor earlier this morning, Polk County is currently sitting at 9.4 percent unemployment, compared to May's number of 8.9 percent.

Catoosa and Walker Counties both continue to have much lower unemployment rates. In June, Catoosa reported a 7.4 percent rate compared to their 6.6 percent rate in May. Walker County's rate rose a full percentage point from May to June, going from 7.3 to 8.3 percent from month to month.

Metro Athens and metro Gainesville had the lowest area jobless rates at 7.5 percent, while metro Dalton had the highest at 12.3 percent. Athens has had the lowest area rate, or tied for the lowest, each month since December 2009. Dalton has had the highest area rate since August 2011.

Meanwhile, Georgia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased to 9.0 percent in June, up one-tenth of a percentage point from 8.9 percent in May, the first increase in almost a year. The jobless rate was 9.9 percent in June a year ago.

The number of jobs in the state dropped by 8,200, or two-tenths of a percentage point, from 3,941,500 in May to 3,933,300 in June. However, jobs were up by 45,200 from 3,888,100 in June 2011. In metro Rome, jobs were unchanged at 37,900 over the month, but down 600 from 38,500 in June 2011.]