Fayette County's unemployment rate rose last month, but State Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond said the state is still facing a labor shortage.

The county's rate jumped from 1.5 percent in January to 1.8 percent in preliminary February figures released late last week. The county's increased rate mirrored the rest of the region as metro Atlanta's rate from 2.6 percent to 2.8 percent.

“Even though the unemployment rate is up this month in the Atlanta area, the gap between available workers and the number of jobs continue to widen,” Thurmond said.

“To offset this imbalance, we must continue to emphasize the importance of developing our indigenous workforce to meet our state's need for highly skilled workers,” he added.

Fayette's low rate is second only to Forsyth's 1.7 rate in the metro area.

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