The Georgia Department of Labor reported that the preliminary unadjusted January unemployment rate in Gordon County rose to 14.2 percent, up 1.1 percent from a revised the 13.1 percent in December.

Total employment in the county fell to 21,037 in January, down from 21,241 in December. The total number of unemployed in the county rose to 3,480 in January compared to 3,192.

Regionwide, unemployment in the Northwest Georgia area rose to 11.6 percent in January, up seven-tenths of one percentage point from a revised 10.9 percent in December. Meanwhile the num-ber of unemployed workers in the area increased to 47,032, up 2,754 from 44,278 in December.

The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 10.4 percent in January, topping the previous record high of 10.3 percent reported in December. This marks the 28th consecutive month that Georgia has exceeded the national seasonally adjusted rate, which was 9.7 percent.

The state’s January jobless rate was up 2.0 percentage points from 8.4 percent at this same time last year. The jobless rate in the Northwest Georgia area in January 2009 was 9.8 percent. Gordon County’s unemployment rate was 10.8 percent in January 2009.