Decatur County’s unemployment rate increased by a little more than 1 percent in June, according to unofficial figures recently released by the Georgia Department of Labor (DOL).

The DOL reported that Decatur County’s unemployment rate in June was 12.0 percent, a 1.1-percent increase from May’s revised rate of 10.9 percent. The county’s rate in June 2012 was 11.4 percent.

In counties that border Decatur County, the unemployment rates were: Baker (8.5 percent), Grady (8.0 percent), Miller (6.8 percent), Mitchell (10.0 percent) and Seminole (9.9 percent).

The DOL also announced that the unemployment rate in the Southwest Georgia region increased to 9.9 percent in June, up eight-tenths of a percentage point, from 9.1 percent in May. The rate was 9.6 percent in June a year ago.

The rate increased primarily because of two seasonal factors: large numbers of education workers are unemployed during the summer and new graduates are considered unemployed until they find a job.

The labor force, which is the number of people employed plus those unemployed but actively looking for work, rose to 163,523 in June, up by 878 from 162,645 in May. It was down by 1,505 from 165,028 in June 2012.

Metro Athens had the lowest area jobless rate at 7.2 percent, while the Heart of Georgia-Altamaha region had the highest at 12.9 percent.

Meanwhile, Georgia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for June was 8.6 percent, up from 8.3 percent in May. The rate was 9.1 percent in June a year ago.

Local area unemployment data are not seasonally adjusted. Georgia labor market data are available at www.dol.state.ga.us.