The U.S. gross domestic product grew by 5.7 percent in the last quarter of 2009, but you could not see any improvement locally by the look of Fayette County’s jobless rate. That rate rose again last month and now sits at 8.3 percent.

Figures supplied by the Ga. Department of Labor showed a jump in Fayette County’s rate from 7.9 percent in November 2009 to 8.3 percent in December 2009; it was 6.3 percent in December 2008. The current breakdown for Fayette shows 6,813 people unemployed out of a workforce of 51,357.

The situation in Peachtree City was similar. The unemployment rate rose from 6.9 percent in November to 7.4 percent last month. That figure represents 1,215 people out of work in a workforce of 16,381. The current jobless rate compares to the 5.4 percent rate in December 2008.

Across Georgia and its 159 counties there are 15 with an unemployment rate of 14 percent or more and 30 counties where the rate falls between 12-13.9 percent.