Unemployment numbers for Coweta County made a significant jump in October, increasing to 10.5 percent. Unemployment rates were also up in Newnan and in the Three Rivers counties, according to the Georgia Dept. of Labor (DOL).

Coweta’s unemployment rate registered at 10.5 percent in October, or 6,112 people out of jobs in a workforce of 58,369. The unemployment rate was 9.9 percent in September and 6.3 percent in October 2008.

The unemployment rate in Newnan hit the 12 percent mark in October, up from 11.3 percent in September and 7.3 percent a year ago.

The situation in the 10-county Three Rivers Commission area did not improve in October, with the unemployment rate rising to 12.1 percent, up from 11.9 percent in September. The rate in October 2008 was 7.8 percent.

Next door in Fayette County the unemployment rate rose from 8.3 percent in September to 8.5 percent last month. That compares to a 6.1 percent rate in October 2008. Fayette is the only county in both south and southwest metro Atlanta with an unemployment rate of less than 10.2 percent.

Unemployment in Douglasville also saw an increase last month, with the rate climbing to 12.3 percent compared to 12.1 percent in September and 8 percent a year ago.

The situation in the broader 28-county Atlanta Metropolitan Statistical Area remained static in October, with the same 10.4 percent unemployment rate seen in September. The October 2008 rate was 6.9 percent.

And across Georgia, the 10 percent threshold crossed earlier in the autumn continued to rise. The September unemployment rate of 10.1 percent climbed to 10.2 in October, reflecting nearly a half-million people without jobs. The state’s unemployment rate in October 2008 was 6.9 percent.

Georgia’s highest unemployment rate, 20.4 percent, is found Hancock County in the east central portion of the state while the lowest is 5.9 percent in Oconee County near Athens.

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