Douglas Sees Spike in Jobless Rate

Douglas County's unemployment rate jumped from 7.8 percent in April to 8.5 percent in May, according to numbers the Georgia Department of Labor released today.

That increase mirrored an uptick across metro Atlanta, where the unemployment rate rose from 7.6 percent in April to 8.2 percent in May.

In a statement, the Department of Labor attributed the spike in unemployment to "an increase in layoffs and an influx of new job seekers into the labor force, both seasonal in nature."

Douglasville's unemployment rate increased from 9.3 percent in April to 9.7 percent in May, according to the Department of Labor. The agency does not list individual statistics for Lithia Springs.

Metro Athens had the lowest area jobless rate in Georgia at 6.2 percent, while the Heart of Georgia-Altamaha region had the highest at 11.5 percent.