State unemployment rate rises for January

ATLANTA - The state Labor Department said Thursday that Georgia&#39;s unemployment rate was 4.4 percent in January, up from 4.3 percent in December. <br> <br> In January 2001, the state&#39;s jobless rate was three-point-five percent. <br> <br> ``The latest figures show that Georgia suffered significant job loss during the second half of 2001,&#34; Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond said. &#34;Actually, we had slow job growth during the first six months of last year, but we began to lose jobs in the second half and that job loss was accelerated by the tragic events of September 11th.&#34;<br> <br> Employment totaled 3,840,400 last month, down 93,700 jobs from January 2001. <br> <br> A total of 56,900 jobs were lost in trade and services, 31,100 in manufacturing and 5,400 in construction. <br> <br> The department did not release January unemployment rates for Georgia&#39;s metropolitan areas Thursday. Those figures will be released next week.

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