The Georgia Department of Labor released unemployment data on Christmas Eve.  After a rocky year due to the coronavirus, the unemployment rate had began to fall in the third-quarter of 2020.  But the rate began to see an increase as the state entered the last quarter of the year.

Out of Georgia’s 159 counties, there are 76 counties with an unemployment rate above 5%.  Chattooga County is one of those counties.  In the Northwest Georgia Region, Murray County has the highest unemployment rate at 5.5%; Chattooga County is next with a rate of 5.3%. With the exception of Whitfield County, where the unemployment rate is 5.1%, surrounding counties are significantly lower.  Walker County’s unemployment rate is 3.4%; Floyd County 4.4%; Gordon County 4%, Dade County is 3.4% and Catoosa County has the lowest unemployment rate at 2.9%.

Clay County in Southwest Georgia has the highest unemployment rate in the state at 11.1%.