Jobless Rate Rises in Kennesaw

Of the three Cobb cities for which the Georgia Department of Labor keeps statistics, Kennesaw had the highest jobless rate in May at 9.3 percent.

That was a full percent higher than the rate in April, according to numbers the agency released today.

Marietta came in second with an unemployment rate of 8.7 percent in May (7.8 in April) and Smyrna came in third with a jobless rate of 7.8 percent in May (7.5 in April), according to the Department of Labor.

Increases in Kennesaw, Marietta and Smyrna mirrored upticks across Cobb County and metro Atlanta during the same time period.

Cobb County's unemployment rate jumped from 6.8 percent in April to 7.5 percent in May. Metro Atlanta's 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."

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.