The Georgia Department of Labor announced today that the unemployment rate in the Northwest Georgia region in December was 5.3 percent, up one-tenth of a percentage point from 5.2 percent in November. The rate in December 2014 was 6.3 percent.

The number of initial claims for unemployment insurance rose by 5,246, or 147.7 percent, to 8,798 in December. Most of the increase came in temporary claims filed in manufacturing. However, over the year, claims were down by 561, or 6 percent, from 9,359 in December 2014.    

Metro Gainesville had the lowest area jobless rate at 4.3 percent, while the Heart of Georgia-Altamaha and River Valley regions had the highest at 6.6 percent. 

Meanwhile, Georgia’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate for December was 5.5 percent, down from 5.6 percent in November. It was 6.6 percent in December 2014.