The Georgia Department of Labor (GDOL) announced today that Metro Augusta’s unemployment rate in January was 5.9 percent, up eight-tenths of a percentage point from 5.1 percent in December. In January 2016, the rate was 6 percent.

The rate rose as the number of jobs declined, while new layoffs increased. These are normal seasonal fluctuations for January.

The number of jobs decreased by 3,800, or 1.6 percent, to 235,300. Most of the job losses came in the service industries, including leisure and hospitality, retail trade, professional and business services and education and health services.

However, over the year, 5,700 jobs were added, a 2.5 percent growth rate, up from 229,600 in January 2016. Most of the job growth came in professional and business services, leisure and hospitality, education and health services, and trade, transportation and warehousing, along with state and local government,

The number of initial claims for unemployment insurance, a measure of new layoffs, rose by 1,149, or 77 percent, to 2,642. Most of the increase came in manufacturing and administrative and support services, along with trade, transportation and warehousing. Over the year, claims were up by 426, or 19.2 percent, from 2,216 in January 2016.

The labor force, which consists of employed residents and those who are unemployed, but actively looking for jobs, grew by 1,847 to 266,698. The number of unemployed residents rose by 2,144 to 15,728, while the number of employed residents decreased by 297 to 250,970. Over the year, the number of people in the labor force increased by 6,851, as the number of employed increased by 6,680 and the number of unemployed grew by 171.

Metro Gainesville and the Georgia Mountains region had the lowest area jobless rate at 4.8 percent, while the Three Rivers region had the highest at 7.4 percent.

Meanwhile, Georgia’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate for January was 5.5 percent, unchanged from 5.5 percent in December. It was 5.6 percent in January 2016.

Job seekers and employers are encouraged to use the GDOL’s online job listing service employgeorgia.com to search for jobs or recruit new employers. In January, 3,217 new job openings in Augusta were posted on Employ Georgia. Throughout the state, 64,018 new job openings were posted.