January unemployment rate up Floyd, Gordon counties vs. December, all areas down from previous year.

• Floyd: 7.1% or 4,679 people. Up from 6.9% in December but down vs. January 2014 (8.1%)
• Bartow: 6.5% or 3,071 people. The same as the previous month but down from 7.6% a year earlier.
• Gordon: 6.8% or 1,750 people. Up from 6.5% in December but down from 8.1% in January 2014.
• Polk: 7.1% or 1,284 people. Down from 7.2% in December; down from 7.9% in January 2014.
• Chattooga: 6.9% or 705 people. Down from 7.7% in December; down from 8.4% a year earlier.

Media release: The Georgia Department of Labor announced today that Metro Rome’s unemployment rate for January was 7.1 percent, up two-tenths of a percentage point from 6.9 percent in December. The rate in January 2014 was 8.1 percent.

The rate increased as the metro area lost 500 mostly temporary and part-time jobs related to the holiday season. The number of jobs in Metro Rome declined to 40,000, down from 40,500 in December. Most of the job loss came in retail trade, transportation and warehousing, along with education and health services.

However, there was an over-the-year gain of 700 jobs, up from 39,300 in January 2014. Most of the job gains came in the goods-producing sector, which includes manufacturing and construction, along with the private, service-related industries.

Although there was a loss of mainly holiday-related jobs, the number of new claims for unemployment decreased to 1,122, a drop of 70, or 5.9 percent, from 1,192 in December. Most of the decrease in claims came in manufacturing and construction and accommodations and food services. Over the year, claims were down by 60, or 5.1 percent, from 1,182 filed in January 2014.

Metro Gainesville had the lowest area jobless rate at 5.2 percent, while the Heart of Georgia-Altamaha region had the highest at 8.3 percent.

Meanwhile, Georgia’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate for January was 6.4 percent, down from 6.6 percent in December. It was 7.3 percent in January 2014.

Local area unemployment data are not seasonally adjusted. Georgia labor market data are available at www.gdol.ga.gov