While the nation's unemployment rate has fallen to 9 percent, Hall County's has gone back up to the same level.

The metro Gainesville jobless rate rose two-tenths of a percentage point in January from a revised 8.8 percent in December, the Georgia Department of Labor reported today.

The jobless rate in the area in January 2010 was 9.9 percent.

The rate increased because of layoffs in manufacturing and construction, the GDOL reported.

Unemployment rates increased in all areas of the state in January except in metro Warner Robins, which posted the lowest rate at 7.8 percent. The highest was in metro Dalton at 13 percent.

Georgia's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for January was 10.4 percent in January, an all-time high and matching the rate from January 2010.

January marked the 40th consecutive month that Georgia has exceeded the national unemployment rate, now 9 percent.

The Georgia Mountains area jobless rate rose to 9.5 percent in January, up from a revised 9.1 percent in December. The rate was 10.1 percent in January 2010.

The rate increased because of layoffs in manufacturing, construction, and retail trade.

Local area unemployment rates are not seasonally adjusted.